Insurance industry warms to new climate report

Members of the insurance industry have lined up to support the recently released first installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report.

“The entire process of insurance is predicated on being able to understand and assess current and future exposures, so when a report comes out that has vital information on how and why the world is changing, it's important for the industry to take a look,” said Lara Mowery, Minneapolis-based head of the global property specialty practice at reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Co. L.L.C.

New York-based Mark Way, who heads reinsurer Swiss Re Ltd.'s sustainability work in the Americas, said the insurance industry needs to demonstrate leadership on climate change, noting that Swiss Re will join an initiative that pledges companies to source 100% of their energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

“When a body like the IPCC concludes that, with 95% certainty, mankind is causing climate change, we would be foolish not to listen,” he said. “And yet, we are still not listening closely enough. The transition to a low-carbon economy and a more climate-resilient society cannot be thought of as options; they are necessities.”