Climate change is happening but the rate of change is unknown. The key to the climate change debate hinges on emissions of greenhouse gases. Globally, humanity emits 6 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. Since the 1960's the number of large catastrophic events concerned with weather related events have increased almost exponentially. The insurance sector (along with the banking sector) will be amongst the first of the industrial sectors to feel the full impacts of climate change. The objective of this article is to assess climate change issues and to layout potential solutions to the problem. especially where engagement by the insurance industry is relevant. In general, most of the actors in the insurance chain have little or no perception of climate change issues and do not take them into account when purchasing insurance policies for property. The increased levels of risk from natural events has to be factored into new insurance products, otherwise there is the potential for massive future claims. If insurers want to help reduce their exposure from increasing risk they have to lead from the front. The article proposes a 10-point plan to reduce risk and concludes that major insurers need to their risk exposure in line with current global climate impact models and take appropriate action.
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