ClimateWise Marks its 5 Year Anniversary
2012 marked the 5th Anniversary of the ClimateWise initiative. Since its establishment members have made significant progress towards understanding and responding to the risks and opportunities posed by climate change. The group continues to play a clear leadership role for the wider insurance industry.
John Coomber, ClimateWise Chairman was interviewed by Insurance Day on Climatewise's past, present and future as part of their 'Big Interview' series. Read the interview from page 4 here in the e-magazine edition, kindly provided by Insurance Day.
The 5th Annual Review
The 5th Annual Review, independently conducted by PwC, shows that in 2011/12 members achieved record compliance of 92% with the core ClimateWise Principles. Of particular note were advances in research and data for modelling risk, increased engagement with policy makers, and the development of new products and services.
Responding to climate change has become a core business priority for members, with responsibility for it residing at the top level of the organisation. The ClimateWise initiative itself has gained a prominent voice and is seen as influencing key stakeholders.
Challenges remain, including how to deploy insurance to protect those most at risk of climate change impacts in the developing world and establishing investment strategies which incorporate environmental and social considerations. Encouraging take up across the wider industry is also a key challenge. John Coomber, Chairman of ClimateWise said:
“Insurers like seat belts, sprinkler systems and fire escapes. Climate change will over time produce major changes in weather related risk experienced by our customers. This will drive a new dialogue with our customers and with government as we seek to build resilience to the new patterns of risk emerging and protect our customers from risk that cannot be mitigated. It is heartening to see progress being made to date by ClimateWise members in pursuit of these goals and their commitment to future action.”
>Read the Annual Review (Executive Summary)
>Read the Annual Review (Full Report)
>Read the Statement from PwC, this year's Independent Reviewer
5th Anniversary Summit, 22 November 2012
The ClimateWise 5th anniversary was marked by an event in central London at which participants reflected on achievements so far and looked ahead to consider what is needed for long-term leadership.
Discussions focussed on how government can support the insurance sector to manage shared long-term risks and a new report was launched on innovative ways to manage specific liabilities associated with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
>Read more about the Summit here
>Find out more about the CCS report
