Insurance Europe has welcomed the publication of the Climate Resilience Dialogue report.
The primary task of the Climate Resilience Dialogue is to exchange views on how to address the losses incurred from climate-related disasters and to identify how the insurance industry can contribute more to climate adaptation, from actions that increase the penetration of climate risk insurance for industry and all of society, to making the conditions right for more investment in good adaptation solutions.
The release of the report represents a key milestone of this important European Commission initiative, which brings together a range of stakeholders committed to finding concrete solutions in tackling climate protection gaps.
Many people, businesses and even entire infrastructures remain largely unprotected against climate change related risks. At the pace at which climate change is progressing, heatwaves, droughts, as well as other types of big climate-related events, such as floods and storms, will become more frequent and even more intense.
Climate change is an overarching global threat and a source of financial risk. In a recent report, the United Nations (UN) World Meteorological Organization stated that greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise and fossil fuel emissions are now above pre-pandemic levels.
According to IAIS, the UN report also stressed that mitigation pledges are insufficient to achieve the Paris Agreement and that global warming during the 21st century is estimated at 2.8°C, assuming a continuation of current policies, or 2.5°C even if new or updated pledges are fully implemented.
Enhanced action is needed to prevent the continued warming that is increasing the likelihood of irreversible changes to the climate system.
Therefore, besides efforts to tackle the causes of climate change, there is also a very strong need to focus on increasing resilience and adaptation.
This interim report is a small first step on the road to boosting resilience. Nevertheless, it is important as it paves the way for those involved in the Dialogue to focus on pinpointing key drivers of protection gaps and, subsequently, on identifying real solutions.
As co-rapporteur, Insurance Europe is committed to working collaboratively with all other stakeholders involved and to steer the work in a direction that can really contribute to increasing climate resilience.
The Climate Resilience Dialogue, led by the European Commission’s DG CLIMA and DG FISMA, was launched in November 2022 and brings together the insurance and reinsurance industry, consumers, businesses and institutions from across Europe to find workable solutions to overcome the climate protection gap. The final report is expected to be published in the summer of 2024.