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Insurance in a Climate of Change

Evan Mills
Science • 12 Aug 2005 • Vol 309, Issue 5737 • pp. 1040-1044 • DOI: 10.1126/science.1112121
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Abstract

Catastrophe insurance provides peace of mind and financial security. Climate change can have adverse impacts on insurance affordability and availability, potentially slowing the growth of the industry and shifting more of the burden to governments and individuals. Most forms of insurance are vulnerable, including property, liability, health, and life. It is incumbent on insurers, their regulators, and the policy community to develop a better grasp of the physical and business risks. Insurers are well positioned to participate in public-private initiatives to monitor loss trends, improve catastrophe modeling, address the causes of climate change, and prepare for and adapt to the impacts.
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References and Notes

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These data are published annually in Swiss Re's Sigma series. For the purposes of this article, we use the terms “insurance” and “reinsurance” interchangeably.
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The research and analysis supporting this article was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Valuable discussions, review comments, and data were provided by S. Catavosky. A. Dlugolecki, P. Epstein, D. Grether, P. Höppe, I. Menzinger, R. Jones, E. Lecomte, J. McMahon, R. Roth, E. Saxon, J. Smith, M. Torn, and A. Wirtz.

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Science
Volume 309 | Issue 5737
12 August 2005

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American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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Published in print: 12 August 2005

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* The author is at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, MS 90-4000, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

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