Swiss Re: ‘High Time to Invest in More Climate Adaption’
August 11th, 2023
Via BusinessGreen, commentary that insurers are now seeing the need for more adaptation investment: Severe thunderstorms, earthquakes, extensive flooding, and heatwaves have hit the global insurance industry for $50bn in the worst start to a year for the industry since 2011, according to a major new study that further highlights the intensifying impact of the […]
Read more »Climate Crisis Has Become A Home Insurance Crisis
July 26th, 2023
Via The New Lede, a look at how the climate crisis has become a home insurance crisis: It’s an ominous sign of how the climate crisis is hitting ever closer to home: Because of the heightened risk of catastrophic wildfires, the two leading U.S. homeowners insurance companies no longer offer new policies in California. Last […]
Read more »Why Insurance Companies Are Fleeing Florida
July 12th, 2023
Via HeatMap, commentary on why insurance companies are fleeing Florida – it’s not just the hurricanes: The Florida insurance market took another hit this week when Farmers announced it would pull out of the state, leaving around 100,000 customers unable to renew their policies. While the news garnered headlines, it was exceptional not so much […]
Read more »Farmers Insurance Has Lost Its Appetite For Business in Extreme Weather Hotspots
July 12th, 2023
Via Quartz, an article on Farmers Insurance decision to restrict its offerings in Florida and California: Farmers Insurance is dropping home, auto, and umbrella coverage in Florida, it announced yesterday (July 11). The state, infamous for its hurricane seasons, has seen several insurers drop out just ahead of peak hurricane season, which tends to be […]
Read more »Financial Models On Climate Risk ‘Implausible’, Say Actuaries
July 4th, 2023
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on the limitations of financial models currently used for climate risk: Financial institutions often did not understand the models they were using to predict the economic cost of climate change and were underestimating the risks of temperature rises, research led by a professional body of actuaries shows. Many […]
Read more »Heat Insurance Offers Climate Change Lifeline To Poor Workers
June 20th, 2023
Via Reuters, an article on some innovative insurance schemes launched for heat, cyclones, and drought: A bright sun beat down on the sprawling Indian market where Kamlaben Ashokbhai Patni sat worrying about the brass jewellery on display in her wooden stall. When the heat rises, the metal blackens. Plastic pearls become unglued. “The colour of […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.