Industry Should Share Climate Risk Insights, Swiss Re Says

Because of its claims expertise, the insurance industry is in a position to offer insights on climate change, a Swiss Re executive said yesterday in an address at a meeting on climate exposure.

Rick Murray, managing director at Swiss Re, provided introductory remarks at the United Nations Climate Risk Summit.

Mr. Murray said "there is an important role for the insurance industry to share its insights into the risks of climate change."

Insurers, he said, are challenged by climate change "in myriad ways--the property coverage damage and mortality losses that arise from natural catastrophes, as well as the exposure that continues to grow as climate-related liability litigation gains momentum. The industry's deep knowledge and expertise based on its claims experience need to be shared."

The United Nations Foundation, in partnership with Ceres, a coalition of investment and environmental groups, brought hundreds of Wall Street leaders and institutional investors to the Investor Summit on Climate Risk at the United Nations in New York.

Topics discussed included the far-reaching economic impacts of climate change, the responses of a growing number of U.S. and overseas investors, and the vast financial opportunities that energy efficiency and other technologies offer for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating economic growth.

Swiss Re, a sponsor and participant in several UN Summits including this one, cited a long-standing commitment to the issue of human influence on climate risk.

The company wrote a corporate report on the subject in 1994 that prompted the reinsurer to develop a comprehensive strategy to manage the risks, seize business opportunities, advocate for emissions reductions and reduce its own carbon footprint, the company said.

Managing Director Ivo Menzinger, who is responsible for Swiss Re's climate change activities, said, "While we need to be alert to the risks, it is encouraging to see how the focus of the debate has moved from the downside of climate change to the opportunities associated with transitioning to a low-carbon economy."