Insurers warned on climate change (BBC) {report from Lloyd's of London}

[eppur_se_muova]

Insurance firms could become "extinct" unless they address the threats posed to their business by climate change, Lloyd's of London has said.

Rolf Tolle, a senior executive at the global insurance market, said insurers needed to manage the threat posed by greenhouse gases and rising sea levels.

His comments came as Lloyd's released a report warning of serious consequences if environmental pressures are ignored.

"A change in industry behaviour is long overdue," the report stressed.

Reassessment

According to the report - Climate Change, Adapt or Bust - the industry's pricing models are inadequate and catastrophe models must be updated to factor in the latest scientific evidence regarding climate change.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5048516.stm

Finally, a silver lining ... bye-bye insurance companies!

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Don't listen to the Looney Left Insurance Industry." - Rush Limbaugh

Who are you going to believe? A drug-addicted, anal-cyst chickenhawk Propagandist who is paid by the REPUBLICON
Cronies?

Or those whacky, notoriously LIBERAL insurance companies and their crazy fact-based analyses?

[sutz12]

2. They've already started.

By denying coverage due to technicalities.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Would they consider Global Warming an act of God???

[mike_c]

3. they'll just add an exclusion clause to policies....

"And no claims will be honored for damages caused by global warming."

See, wasn't that easy? Bet you'll need a microscope and a bloodhound to find it, too. So sorry.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. BUT, BUT, BUT Global warming is just a fantasy of the whacko left!!!!!

Why would an Insurance Company like LLoyd's of London have to make accommodations for Global warming??!!! HUH? HUH??? I just don''t get it!! Do they insure against damage by the Loch Ness monster????

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[dragonlady]

6. This just might be the way to get some people's attention

The ones with heads stuck in the sand, not believing the "inconvenient truth" of global warming. They wouldn't pay much attention to all the articles and news reports from the last few years, and wouldn't think of seeing Al Gore's movie, but an article in the Wall Street Journal about insurance rates going up--that would have an effect.

[Lisa]

7. the investment and insurance companies were among the first ...

... to take this issue seriously. Even back in the 1990s, they came up with in-house reports suggesting that they could be facing major problems if global warming increased the number of natural disasters (and claims). The results were apparently so alarming that they soon publicized their findings (Munich Re and others). When other sectors -- energy, transportation, even agriculture and forestry -- were still scoffing, the financial people started to make plans.

What gets me is this. Around 2000 I looked at some forecasts which various Canadian CEOs had made back in the 1960s, for life in the 21st century. They were almost all wildly wrong -- the energy people thought they'd have fusion reactors by now, the transportation people thought there would be supersonic flights between Montreal and Tokyo in 3 hours (now you have to allow that long just for check-in!), and as for nuclear-powered cars.... A lot of the companies that took part ended up going bust, or are in serious trouble today. Except for the banks and insurance companies, which made some very accurate guesses about computerization, and greater use of financial services by even middle-income earners.

They were right back then, and it would not surprise me one bit if this trend continues.