Reply #1: "risk management" magazine in 1998----the coming storm"

[madrchsod]

an article from "risk management" magazine in 1998----the coming storm...

"With a report issued in 1990, Munich Re was perhaps the first insurer to publicly show its concern about the climate change issue. They later concluded, "the insurance industry must demand that political decisions are taken on climate protection immediately." In 1994, Swiss Re stated that "human intervention in the natural climatic system could accelerate global climatic change to such an extent that society might no longer be able to adapt quickly enough....

Arkwright Mutual may have been the first U.S. primary insurer to put their views in print. Their research indicated a discernible trend toward greater flooding, and they warned, with respect to flood coverage, that "insurers must carefully evaluate their use of large limits as well as other terms and conditions." They also pointed out that other human activities such as river diversions, deforestation and land use exacerbate the growing risk of flooding...


By the mid-1990s, insurers started to appear at the international climate negotiations. In 1995, an ad hoc group of seven major U.S. insurance industry groups met with Vice President Gore to discuss the issues. In a follow-up letter emphasizing the importance of climate research and disaster preparedness, they wrote: "We share your concerns about our changing climate. . . . We do recognize that the historical paradigm we have used in the past to assess the catastrophe risk we insure must be re-examined.... We commit to explore with you and the business community the synergies between initiatives associated with alternative and sustainable energy." However, despite these initial constructive steps, few individual U.S. or Canadian insurers have made an effort to become fully engaged in the issue...


There is no single explanation for this relative lack of involvement among North American insurers. The business philosophy of European and Asian insurers appears to be more proactive and more attentive to fundamental causes and to asserting their interests-and those of their clients- in the public policy process. North American companies are far more focused on mitigating damages than on working to address the roots of problems. There is also a greater tradition of scientific inquiry among European insurers. Differences in regulation and taxation may also be a factor".

http://eetd.lbl.gov/EMills/PUBS/comingstorm.html
The Coming Storm

two other links

http://www.livescience.com/environment/051101_insurance_warming.html
Insurance Company Warns of Global Warming's Costs | LiveScience

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2005/2005-09-13-04.asp
Insurance Companies Staggering Under Global Warming Damages



one of the most under reported stories in the last 17 years? seems no one even noticed the canary was dieing