IAG Flood Analyst Michaela Dolk was one of two runners up in the 2021 Aon Scholarship. The topic of her essay below is ‘A Transformation of Re/Insurance: Responding to the Climate Emergency’.

As an investor with a capital pool exceeding $30 trillion [1] (almost a third of the estimated $100 trillion global assets under management [2]), and an underwriter with premiums exceeding $5 trillion [3], the re/insurance industry has a crucial role to play in responding to what has been declared a ‘climate emergency’ [4].

Where the industry will be in 2050 is yet to be determined — it could be looking back with pride on a transformation that facilitated climate change mitigation, or it may be facing existential concerns stemming from a deterioration of insurability and a broader economic breakdown.

Several pathways have been mapped out, ranging from early action scenarios where warming is limited to well-below 2°C, through to ‘business-as-usual’ scenarios where warming far exceeds 3°C [5, 6, 7].

The actions (or inactions) of the re/insurance industry will be highly influential in determining which pathway is ultimately followed.

Premium

You need to login to access this

Login

What are CIP Points? About ANZIIF Membership