A new report from an environmental group says that insurers of all types have made a “highly uneven” response to climate risks.

The report issued Thursday by Boston-based Ceres — “Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey: 2012 Findings & Recommendations” — is based on 184 company disclosures in response to a climate risk survey developed by insurance regulators. Insurers licensed to operate in three states — California, New York and Washington — that require climate risk disclosure completed the surveys.

Ceres said the surveys showed that only 23 companies in the property/casualty, life and annuity, and health insurance sectors have comprehensive climate change strategies. “Those companies provide a roadmap for the rest of the industry as it begins to wrestle with the issue,” said Ceres in a statement

“Every segment of the insurance industry faces climate risks, yet the industry's response has been highly uneven,” said Ceres President Mindy Lubber in the statement. “The implications of this are profound because the insurance sector is a key driver of the economy. If climate change undermines the future availability of insurance products and risk management services in major markets throughout the U.S., it threatens the economy and taxpayers as well.”

The report noted that while property/casualty might appear to be the only industry sector that has reason to be concerned about climate change-related losses, life insurers hold hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of real estate in coastal areas that are vulnerable to climate change.

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Of the 23 insurance companies with a comprehensive strategy to cope with climate change, 13 are foreign-owned and eight are property/casualty companies. The report said smaller insurance companies tend to lag considerably behind their larger counterparts in preparing to manage climate risk.

The Ceres report recommends that insurers:

• Treat climate change as a corporatewide strategic issue, affecting all functions at all levels, and formalize this in a public corporate policy statement.

• Assess how a warming climate will alter extreme weather events, disease vectors, political risk and infrastructure resilience, and implement strategies to adapt their underwriting and investment practices accordingly.

• Develop catastrophic models that anticipate the probable effects of climate change on extreme weather events.

• Advocate for public policies that will help reduce carbon emissions and maintain an economy that is resilient to climate risk.

“Just as the insurance industry asserted leadership to minimize building fire and earthquake risks in the 20th century, the industry has a huge opportunity today to lead in tackling climate change risks,” said Ms. Lubber in the statement.