Factor in climate change dangers, insurers told.
From The Age in Melbourne, Australia come this piece: Factor in climate change dangers, insurers told.
Climate change is to blame for the increasing number and severity of natural disasters and should be included in risk modelling for insurance companies, a conference of insurers has heard.
Technorati Tags: Australia, climate change, global warming, Insurance, modelling
More choice bits from this article:
Soon after Katrina flooded New Orleans, Munich Re’s chairman, Nikolaus von Bomhard, warned that premiums would have to rise as the environment grew more ominous.
Peter Hoeppe, head of geo-risks research/environmental management at Munich Reinsurance, told the Insurance Outlook Conference in Melbourne on Friday that the industry had an obligation to protect itself from an increasingly angry earth.
“Natural catastrophes are increasing dramatically in number and magnitude,” Dr Hoeppe told the conference, which was sponsored by the Insurance Council of Australia. “The insurance industry has to consider climate change in its risk models.”
A record 23 tropical storms [so far - DS] have been named during the Atlantic hurricane season this year. And given the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, insurers are expecting losses to break last year’s $36 billion record.
So as you can see it’s not a question of ’should you pay’, its really just a matter how how you’ll pay, who to and how much. We have a choice - reduce CO2 emissions, or pay the consequences. The trouble is that the long terms consequences are mostly unknowable. But almost certainly they are not compatible with our current comfortable way of life.
-DS
