Insurance Industry Wants Action on Climate Change
While the oil industry may be willfully blind to the dangers of fossil-fuel use and climate change, the insurance industry certainly is not. A new report from the Association of British Insurers warns that insurance costs are likely to climb in coming years as insurance companies are hit with increasing numbers of damage claims resulting from aberrant weather — in essence, resulting from global warming. Claims for flood and storm damage in Britain doubled in the period 1999-2003 compared to the previous five years, said the report, and claims could triple in the next few decades if action isn’t taken to manage climate change. The report also suggests that auto insurance prices could increase as bad weather leads to more accidents on the road, and that liability insurance could rise because directors of some companies could be held responsible for climate change.
