As climate-driven hazards accelerate, a dangerous structural misalignment has emerged: What building codes deem legally permissible to construct is increasingly at odds with what catastrophic risk models deem financially viable to insure.
As long as building codes lag behind climate realities, private insurance markets will continue to dictate local safety standards by default. Resiliency Codes offer a clear, actionable strategy to change this dynamic.
Francis Bouchard, Managing Director of Climate for Marsh McLennan, recently interviewed Roy Wright, CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), to discuss the future of insurance in the age of climate change and the importance of product innovation.
Insurers play a key role in sending risk signals, sometimes in a form other than price. These risk experts need to lead by reframing the “insurance crisis” as the “insurability crisis,” and leveraging a time-tested safety standard approach to align a complex ecosystem of competing interests.
At the recent Milken Global Conference, rebuilding LA was top of mind. Partnership, system-level engagement, and local leadership were key themes. And the insurance sector has a critical opportunity to reframe its role in disaster preparedness and society at large.
