D&O heats up: Directors & Officers writers are paying close attention to the issue of climate change--not just how it could affect Earth, but how it could impact regulations and ultimately lead to future litigation and claims.Key Points * Insurers worry that the increasing number of shareholder resolutions related to climate change might be a harbinger har·bin·ger n. One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner. tr.v. har·bin·gered, har·bin·ger·ing, har·bin·gers To signal the approach of; presage. of future lawsuits. * The percentage of companies identifying climate-change related risks in their SEC reports is increasing. * Overall, the insurance industry lags behind other industries in its reporting of climate risks. Ice caps are melting and ocean are warming, but regulatory and political climate changes could have the greatest impact on insurers, especially Directors & Officers underwriters. The insurance industry"may have more material exposures to climate change than any other sector," said Rachel S. Kronowitz, a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Gilbert Randolph. In addition to the potential increase in property damage claims from more severe weather, she believes insurers could face liability claims if their policyholders are found liable for contributing to climate change or pollution. Insurers may face disclosure-related claims stemming from D&O policies, Kronowitz added. Also, as buyers of D&O coverage themselves, insurers' own climate-related disclosures are likely to be scrutinized--both in the coverage they write and in the investments they make. As major institutional investors, insurers should be tracking the climate-change-related risks of the companies they have invested in, and may also have to disclose those risks, Kronowitz said. "The insurance industry itself may feel real direct exposure if they don't fully disclose issues related to climate change," Kronowitz said. Public and private companies, including insurance companies, purchase D&O insurance to protect their leadership from lawsuits. As climate change becomes a hotter issue for regulators and lawmakers, directors and officers may find themselves facing new questions and new risks, which translates into more pressure on D&O underwriters. "It's going to have a substantial impact, unless companies start getting their acts together pronto pron·to adv. Informal Without delay; quickly. [Spanish, from Latin pr  mptus; see prompt. ," said Rick
Bortnick, an attorney with Cozen coz·en v. coz·ened, coz·en·ing, coz·ens v.tr. 1. To mislead by means of a petty trick or fraud; deceive. 2. To persuade or induce to do something by cajoling or wheedling. 3. O'Connor. "The regulatory climate regulatory climate The extent to which a regulated firm or industry is permitted to earn an adequate return on the stockholders' investment. This term is nearly always used in reference to utilities, which are required to obtain approval for rate changes. is changing, the political climate is changing. Shareholders from various companies have proposed resolutions about global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. , which have forced boards to take action.There's a growing crescendo of the social, the political, the economic, the regulatory, the legislative and the judicial forces all pulling together to require companies to disclose and fix, or at least deal with, climate issues." Two Fronts Directors & officers insurers are closely watching two fronts: shareholder actions and regulatory actions, said carol Zacharias, senior vice president of ACE USA Professional Risk. "Underwriters are beginning to ask more and more questions. They want to know about the process, about investigation, about disclosure and about alternatives," Zacharias said. "Right now they are asking, 'How do we underwrite this? What questions should we be asking? What answers should we expect to get?'" On the regulatory front, Congress is considering at least 80 bills regarding climate change--from proposals that would step up companies' disclosure requirements to bills that involve limiting or reducing greenhouse gas greenhouse gas n. Any of the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. greenhouse gas emissions. Many states and cities also have pursued caps on greenhouse gas emissions, which could make additional compliance risks for D&O writers, said Zacharias. "We're seeing a push on the regulatory front to try to encourage companies to manage climate change, and we're seeing shareholders encourage management to disclose their plans," Zacharias said. There's been a dramatic increase in shareholder resolutions relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc climate change and disclosure. Such resolutions were fairly rare--fewer than 10 in 2000 and 2001--but have grown to more than 40 in 2007, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Evan Mills, staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, scientific research centers run by the Univ. of California, located in Berkeley, Calif., and Livermore, Calif., respectively. . And while insurers who underwrite D&O coverage should be paying particular attention to such resolutions--since they may be a harbinger of future lawsuits against a company's leaders--insurers may also lace similar scrutiny. In fact, shareholder resolutions about climate change have already touched a handful of insurance companies. Calvert, a family of mutual funds, withdrew climate change shareholder resolutions filed with two insurers after the companies--the Hartford Financial Services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. Group Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc.--agreed to improve their public reporting and disclosure regarding potential climate-change financial risks they face. The insurers also agreed to develop strategies for mitigating those risks. Ace Ltd. and Chubb have faced similar shareholder resolutions. The resolution concerning Chubb was withdrawn after it agreed to a climate-related shareholders' meeting shareholders' meeting n. a meeting, usually annual, of all shareholders of a corporation (although in large corporations only a small percentage attend) to elect the Board of Directors and hear reports on the company's business situation. . Tripwires Tripwires (previously The Enigma Project) are a four piece indie/rock alternative band from Reading, Berkshire, UK.[1] The band consists of Rhys Edwards, Ben White, Joe Stone and Sam Pilsbury, Joe Stone being the most recent addition, after the Welsh indie group and Triggers Mills, who has written extensively on insurance and global warming, said there will be a variety of triggers for D&O claims. "These will tend to stem from instances where plaintiffs perceive that corporate leaders do not adequately protect shareholder value in advance of climate change," Mills said in an e-mail interview. "Triggers could include failures to predict or disclose liabilities; loss of revenues or market share; stock price drops; bad faith; trespass; misrepresentation misrepresentation In law, any false or misleading expression of fact, usually with the intent to deceive or defraud. It most commonly occurs in insurance and real-estate contracts. False advertising may also constitute misrepresentation. ; reputational damage; or even business opportunities missed in the cleantech wave. Shareholders of weather-sensitive companies (e.g. agriculture) could be affected just as much as those of polluting pol·lute tr.v. pol·lut·ed, pol·lut·ing, pol·lutes 1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter. See Synonyms at contaminate. 2. companies." Also, public service D&O insurance, or the insurance carried by local government officials, is likely to be impacted, Mills said. He recalled recently addressing an audience of more than 150 people from Connecticut's public sector who were concerned about the various ways in which they could be impacted by climate change. "It is just as incumbent upon them as it is upon private-sector executives to be proactive in planning for, and minimizing the costs of, climate change," Mills said. Another sign that climate change is surfacing as a major liability issue: the increasing number of law firms This list of the world's largest law firms by revenue is taken from The Lawyer and The American Lawyer and is ordered by 2006 revenue:[1]
"People are just talking" about potential D&O claims from climate change, said David Wilde David Wilde (born 1935 in Manchester) is a British pianist and composer. As a boy he studied with Solomon and his pupil Franz Reizenstein, who had also studied composition with Hindemith and Vaughan Williams. , a D&O specialist with Benfield Corporate Risk. "That's a good thing, because it's better to talk about things in advance than wait until they become the crisis." "It's a lot of speculation right now, which is what underwriters should do," said Steve Shappell, managing director of Aon Financial Services' legal and claims practice. "People have got to be thinking about what is the exposure, so you are covered and so you are collecting premium for the risks. The speculation is that the world is going to start drilling down on these global warming/climate change issues. And as they do, countries will enact legislation globally and locally, and there will be greater exposure for companies to comply with those regulations." Disclosure Risks Companies already are facing disclosure risks, and those risks are likely to groq as disclosure requirements become more demanding. Under current U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, companies are required to disclose known trends and uncertainties that can impact their business--including environmental and climate change issues. Now Congress is considering strengthening that language to make companies even more forthcoming. A study by Friends of the Earth shows that companies are disclosing climate-change-related risks to their investors at nearly twice the rate in 2005 that they did in 2000. However, the survey, which examined the SEC filings for more than 100 companies from the automobile, petrochemical, oil and gas, electric utilities and property/casualty insurance sectors, found overall reporting rates still hover at about 49%. Additionally, the quality of disclosure continues to be uneven among reporting companies. Another Friends of the Earth white paper that focused on 106 public property/casualty insurers' SEC filings found only nine companies--21st Century Holdings, Allianz, Arch Capital Group, Aspen Insurance, Chubb, Cincinnati Financial Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CINF) offers property and casualty insurance, its main business, through The Cincinnati Insurance Company, The Cincinnati Indemnity Company and The Cincinnati Casualty Company. Corp., Millea, Everest Reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. and Selective Insurance Group--included climate-change reporting. "An argument can be made that insurance companies are not directly addressing their potential exposures to climate change," said Peter M. Gillon, principal shareholder at the law firm Greenberg Traurig Greenberg Traurig LLP is an international law firm with approximately 1,700 attorneys and governmental professionals in 29 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its presence in Europe is supplemented by strategic alliances with Olswang (offices in London, United Kingdom . "The possible effects include everything from hurricanes to floods due to rising seas, to severe weather and thunderstorms thunderstorms a storm characterized by thunder and lightning caused by strong rising air currents; identified as agents of animal disease because of their involvement causing (1) spasmodic colic; (2) lightning strike; (3) injuries of cattle acquired in stampedes initiated by storms. . There's lots of potential exposures--although I wouldn't say it's in the top 10 of potential threats to D&O right now." Wilde of Benfield noted that the pressure to provide shareholders with information also increases the future threat that the information disclosed wasn't accurate. "The more you say, the more chance there is that someone will accuse you of not being accurate,"Wilde said. And because climate-related disclosures have yet to be tested in court, they may not be protected under the same safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provisions that allow management to conduct goodfaith discussions about a company's financial forecast. Pollution Exclusion In its simplest terms, climate change might be seen as caused by a form of pollution, said Wilde. That view is based on the April 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, 549 U.S. ___ (2007),[1] is a U.S. Supreme Court case decided 5-4 on April 2, 2007 in which twelve states and several cities of the United States brought suit against the United States Environmental Protection , considered a seminal event in the debate over how climate change might impact insurers. In its 5-4 decision, the court found that the EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. had related the clean Air Act by declining to regulate new emissions standards for carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. . Further, the court ruled that greenhouse gases are pollutants pollutants see environmental pollution. under the act. "A lot of D&O policies have pollution exclusions, but there's many ways that they might or might not apply," said Aon Financial's Shappell. "A lot of people don't agree with the Supreme Court. They don't want to put a pollutant pol·lut·ant n. Something that pollutes, especially a waste material that contaminates air, soil, or water. label on greenhouse gases. It's different from the traditional pollutions we deal with." He said all three types of D&O coverage (see "The Ps and Qs of D&O" on page 25) typically have a pollution exclusion. "But often there's a carve-back that says the exclusion won't apply to the Side A claim." Shappell said. Many companies buy additional Side A coverage to protect their directors and officers, which generally does not have pollution exclusions, said Wilde. "The lack of the pollution exclusion has been a key selling point selling point n. An aspect of a product or service that is stressed in advertising or marketing. Noun 1. selling point - a characteristic of something that is up for sale that makes it attractive to potential customers of these policies," he said. Wilde added that he expected the demand for Side A coverage to increase as disclosure pressures continue to heat up. Legal Actions Underway While it may be difficult to prove how much a single company or industry can be held responsible for climate change, a couple of lawsuits have attempted to do just that. In Comer v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., a group of Mississippi homeowners sued Nationwide and a number of other insurers for allegedly failing to pay claims relating to Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. . The plaintiffs
later amended their original complaint in order to sue oil and energy
companies for all allegedly engaging in activities that have produced
the greatest single source of byproducts leading to the development and
increase in global warming," according to the suit. The
class-action suit Noun 1. class-action suit - a lawsuit brought by a representative member of a large group of people on behalf of all members of the groupclass action was filed in federal district court for the Southern District of Mississippi. "It may be a stretch, but people are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. other places to cover their losses," Kronowitz said about the case. Another class-action lawsuit, Barasich v. Columbia Gulf Transmission Columbia Gulf Transmission gathers gas in the Gulf of Mexico and brings it to Columbia Gas Transmission. It is owned by NiSource. Its FERC code is 70.[1] External links
In what could be a sign of the times A Sign of the Times was a 1966 single by Petula Clark. Written by Tony Hatch, the uptempo pop number juxtaposed Clark's driving vocals with a powerful brass section. She introduced the tune on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 27, 1966. , the SEC took an enforcement action against Ashland Inc., a Kentucky-based oil company, in November for allegedly materially understating the reserves needed to do environmental remediation Generally, remediation means providing a remedy, so environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water for the general protection of human health and the environment or from a , which allegedly inflated the company's operating profits. "It's not directly climate-change linked, but an indicator of SEC's scrutiny of environmental liability reporting, and an indicator of the SEC's willingness to hold companies responsible for environmental risk," Kronowitz said. Change in Terms, Prices The first stage of any potential policy change takes place when underwriters begin to ask a lot of questions, Wilde said. "Do we get to the point where underwriters start discussing exclusions? I think that's a long way off right now," he said. It hasn't happened ... yet. "These are issues that are not quite ripe ... but there is real concern that there might be real liability," Kronowitz said. Learn More Ace American Pool A.M. Best Company # 018344 Distribution: Retail and wholesale brokers, general agents, independent agents, managing general agents, managing general underwriters, direct marketing operations, and Internet distribution channels For ratings and other financial strength information about these companies, visit www.ambest.com. What Insurer Are Saying About Climate Change "Failure to take climate change into account companies at risk of future legal actions from their own shareholders, their investors and clients." --Lloyd's 2006 report, Climate change: Adapt or Bust or collapse from the effort; - used in phrases expressing determination to do something; as, Oregon or bust, meaning "We will get to Oregon or die trying." s> See also: bust "Our financial exposure from climate change is most notably associated with losses in connection with the occurrence of hurricanes striking Florida. We mitigate this risk of financial exposure from climate change by restrictive underwriting criteria, sensitivity to geographic concentrations and reinsurance." --21st Century Holding Co. in its annual report filed with the SEC for 2006 "Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. What we do today, is crucial for future generations. Therefore, swift international action is urgently needed." --Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek in a statement June 7, 2007 For Swiss Re Swiss Re is the world’s largest reinsurer, now that it has acquired GE Insurance Solutions (Ligi 2006). Founded in 1863, Swiss Re now operates in more than 30 countries. General Electric owns 8.9% of the firm. , climate change is a core issue and an important element in the company's long-term risk management strategy. Climate change has the potential to significantly shift global weather patterns, and since these shifts may affect the number and severity of natural catastrophes, the entire insurance industry is like y to be affected. According to a United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative report, climate-change-driven natural disasters may lead to economic losses of $150 billion per year within the next decade. --Swiss Re's 2004 report, Tackling Climate Change The PS and Qs of D&O Directors & Officers coverage is often described as having three components: Side A: Coverage available to protect the directors and officers of a company, when the company cannot legally or financially indemnify To compensate for loss or damage; to provide security for financial reimbursement to an individual in case of a specified loss incurred by the person. Insurance companies indemnify their policyholders against damage caused by such things as fire, theft, and flooding, which them. Side B: Coverage for the corporation, to reimburse it for the amount it is obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to indemnify its directors and officers. Side C: Coverage for the entity itself, for its liability based on the actions of its employees, including directors and officers. What Are Greenhouse Gases Many chemical compounds found in the Earth's atmosphere “Air” redirects here. For other uses, see Air (disambiguation). Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0. act as "greenhouse gases." These gases allow sunlight to enter the atmosphere freely. When sunlight strikes the Earth's surface Noun 1. Earth's surface - the outermost level of the land or sea; "earthquakes originate far below the surface"; "three quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water" surface , some of it is reflected back toward space as infrared radiation (heat). Greenhouse gases absorb this infrared radiation and trap the heat in the atmosphere, thus causing the planet to become warmer over time, scientists believe. Many gases exhibit these "greenhouse" properties. Some of them occur in nature, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide nitrous oxide or nitrogen (I) oxide, chemical compound, N2O, a colorless gas with a sweetish taste and odor. Its density is 1.977 grams per liter at STP. It is soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and other solvents. . Others, such as chlorofluorocarbons chlorofluorocarbons (klōr'əfl  r`əkär'bənz, klôr'–) (CFCs), organic compounds that contain carbon, chlorine, and fluorine atoms. , are exclusive human-made.
Source: U.S. Energy, Information Administration Insurer Fall Behind In a survey of Securities and Exchange Commission filings for 2005, the environmental group Friends of the Earth found that insurers are less likely than other industries to disclose potential climate-change-related risks: * 100% of the 26 electric utilities surveyed disclosed climate change risks, up from 50% in 2000 * 78% of oil and gas companies disclosed climate risks, up dramatically from 44% in 2000 * 28% of petrochemical companies disclosed climate risks, up from 7% in 2000 * 26% of auto manufacturers disclosed climate risks, up slightly from 22% in 2000 * 15% of insurers disclosed climate risks, compared to 7% in 2000 filings Source: Friends of the Earth What's ahead in 2007? The industry gets down to business with climate-change conferences. Aug. 9-12: James M. Davis, a managing partner with Anderson Kill and 0lick in Chicago, will moderate "Global Warming Litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. After Massachusetts v. EPA" at the American Bar Association American Bar Association (ABA), voluntary organization of lawyers admitted to the bar of any state. Founded (1878) largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Bar Association, it is devoted to improving the administration of justice, seeking uniformity of law annual meeting in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . Aug. 12-14: The Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society hosts its annual Career Development Seminar at the Pittsburgh Hilton. A joint session covers "whether storms and catastrophes are warning signals of destructive climate change and long-term global warming." www.go-ires.org/events/future.cfm Sept. 9-12: The International Union of Marine Insurance hosts its annual conference in Copenhagen with the Danish Insurance Association. The conference features a session titled "Global Warming--How is Marine Exposed?" www.iumi2007.dk Sept. 11-13: The annual conference of the Institute of Risk Management at the University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire is a modern university based largely in Hatfield, in the county of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, from which the university takes its name. It has more than 23,000 students. in Hatfield, U.K., includes a seminar titled, "Is Climate Change a Four-Letter Word four-let·ter word n. Any of several short English words generally regarded as vulgar or obscene. four-letter word Noun ?" The first 75 delegates to book online receive a copy of Al Gore's book, An Inconvenient Truth.www.theirm.org/riskforum/index.html Sept. 30-Oct. 3: The Federation of European Risk Management Associations' Risk Management Forum 2007 in Geneva Geneva, canton and city, Switzerland Geneva (jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. includes a talk on "Climate Change and its Economic and Social Impacts." www.mega.com/index.asp/I/en/c/event/p/conference/a/ event-conferenceO046. Oct. 24-25: The United Nations Environmental Program's Finance Initiative Global Roundtable meets in Melbourne, Australia with panel sessions on "Climate Change: Financing De-Carbonization and a CleanTech Future,"and 'Financial Services, Post2012 and the Carbon Economy." Oct. 28-31: The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America hosts its annual meeting in Boston, featuring a session on "Climate Change: Operational Challenges and Political Fallout." Karen Clark, vice chair of cat modeler AIR Worldwide Corp., Boston, will discuss the impact of climate change on public policy solutions for catastrophe insurance. Nov. 6, 2007: The 9th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference features a panel discussion on "Revisiting the Impact of Global Warming--Is It Time for Insurers and Reinsurers to Wake Up to the Truth?" www.sirc.com. --Compiled by Bonnie Brewer Bonnie Brewer is a former official mascot for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, appearing at Milwaukee County Stadium from 1973 to 1979. Bonnie was portrayed as a young blonde woman in a gold blouse and short blue lederhosen, wearing a baseball cap and frequently carrying a Cavanaugh Impact of Climate Climate change and its possible associated risks are high priorities for property/casualty insurers and reinsurers, given the variety of related potential exposures the industry anticipates. Ivo Menzinger, head of sustainability and climate change management with Swiss Re Group, said the issue of climate change should be viewed from two angles: its possible impact on "extreme events" and the liability risks it may pose. Regarding the first, he pointed out that it can be difficult to separate the impact of climate change from weather cycles that occur naturally. "We're now in the middle of a peak cycle for hurricane intensity, so it is difficult to judge how much is due to natural cycles and how much to human activity," he said. Looking at liability risks, Menzinger said there are about 15 lawsuits under way in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. that are linked to climate change. "There is absolutely evidence that there is a risk to insurers due to climate change," he said. Menzinger added that there is a growing consensus among insurers and reinsurers over how to deal with the climate change threat. He believes that some of the consequences of climate change will come to pass, even if greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced to zero today, "The course of action has to run along two lines," he said. "One is mitigation, such as reducing emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon economy A low-carbon economy is an economy in which carbon dioxide emissions from the use of carbon based fuels (coal, oil and gas) are freezed and significantly reduced.[1]. ." The other involves making buildings more resistant to strong storms, using smart zoning to avoid high-risk areas for development, and improving defenses along the coastlines. Menzinger sees a close partnership between insurers, reinsurers and their clients regarding climate change threats. "We have always been in this together, and the insurance industry has always been an important adviser on risk issues," he said. "So the industry can actually prove its value once again in helping companies adapt to climate change, and on the other hand to assume their risks." Increased risks related to climate change are likely to be seen in many places around the globe, said Menzinger. Obvious problem areas will be low-lying land and coastal zones, along with polar and mountain areas susceptible to glacier and snow melt, he pointed out. "In terms of economic consequences, it will be the poorest regions of the world, that are not as resilient as industrialized in·dus·tri·al·ize v. in·dus·tri·al·ized, in·dus·tri·al·iz·ing, in·dus·tri·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To develop industry in (a country or society, for example). 2. countries, that will stiffer most," he said. Property, engineering, marine and agricultural insurance lines will be most affected. General liability, product liability and Directors & Officers lines will be prone to litigation risks, he said. On the Case Swiss Re has been working on the climate change threat for more than 20 years, said Menzinger. The reinsurer re·in·sure tr.v. re·in·sured, re·in·sur·ing, re·in·sures To insure again, especially by transferring all or part of the risk in a contract to a new contract with another insurance company. has incorporated climate change risks into its overall risk strategy. Menzinger described a "four-prong approach" Swiss Re takes to climate change: * Collaborating with universities and research institutions, and using new knowledge to change pricing and risk models; * Developing products and services that adapt to climate change, such as insurance-linked securities, and encouraging carbon-trading exchanges and clean-energy funds; * Acting in an advocacy role to share knowledge with governments and policy-makers; * Keeping their own house in order. Swiss Re committed to a carbon-neutral program in 2003. Menzinger believes his industry has unique leverage to influence the climate change debate because of its accumulated knowledge and data about natural catastrophe risks. "Absolutely, I believe we are credible," he said. "We have a stake in it. We have the data as to the losses. We are not going to lobby for particular solutions, but we are going to advocate the reduction of emissions." By adjusting prices and updating models in response to conditions in the real world, major insurers and reinsurers such as Swiss Re serve as indicators of the changing nature of natural catastrophe threats. Munich Re Munich Re AG, in German Münchener Rück AG (ISIN: DE0008430026), is the world's second largest reinsurance company with over 5,000 customers in 160 countries and has its headquarters in Munich, Germany. sets sights on becoming carbon-neutral Munich Re said its reinsurance operations are aiming to be climate-neutral when it comes to global reinsurance activities by 2012. The company said its head office in Munich, where more than half of its international reinsurance work three of almost 7,000 people is based, will have a neutral position with regard to carbon dioxide by 2009. Swiss Re announced in 2003 a 10-year plan to become greenhouse-gas neutral, while Royal & SunAlliance said it became carbon neutral in the United Kingdom in 2006. Munich Re declined to comment on how much the project will cost. However, Michael Able, press officer at the company, said according to Munich Re's latest sustainability report, its reinsurance group produced somewhere in the region of 70,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, and that the cost of taking care of each ton was roughly 10 [euro]. Torsten Jeworrek, board member at Munich Re, said the company is putting its money where its mouth is. "Adopting a climate-neutral position underlines that we not only play a leading role in the scientific analysis of climate change but are also doing something about it," he said. With awareness of climate change growing, more and more insurance companies are developing insurance and risk-management products for the low-carbon economy. Earlier this year, St. Paul St. Paul as a missionary he fearlessly confronts the “perils of waters, of robbers, in the city, in the wilderness.” [N.T.: II Cor. 11:26] See : Bravery Travelers Cos. introduced a new program to offer a 10% discount to drivers of hybrid-electric vehicles. In May, American International Group
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) (NYSE: AIG; TYO: 8685 ) is a major American insurance corporation based in New York City. Inc. said it was developing a number of products, including coverages for the carbon trading market. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., a subsidiary of German insurer Allianz S.E., has introduced a series of coverages for buildings that are green-certified, as well as for those with owners who would like to capture green benefits. Munich Re will aim for carbon neutrality by reducing emissions per employee, using "green" power sources and investing in renewable energies, as well as tree planting schemes that are designed to lock carbon dioxide into new forests, it said in a statement. Although the investment projects will call for a greater one-off investment than the purchase of emission certificates, they will bring the added benefit of earning interest at the market rote rote 1 n. 1. A memorizing process using routine or repetition, often without full attention or comprehension: learn by rote. 2. Mechanical routine. , the company said. Remaining emissions will be accounted for by participating in climate-protection projects in emerging countries that comply with the Kyoto Protocol Kyoto Protocol: see global warming. . The company will not be purchasing carbon credits.--Marc Jones |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion