The economic losses from disasters that are not covered by insurance continue to grow, but resilience projects are generating measurable positive returns.
If today’s funding landscape resembles disconnected wells, then climate resilience requires something closer to a watershed—where resources are intentionally pooled, directed, and circulated across geographies, sectors, and time horizons.
An adaptation-minded property insurance system means safer, healthier, more resilient communities and economies that can both prepare for and recover from climate disasters in an affordable, sustainable, equitable way.
In a world of more frequent climate stressors and disasters, parametric insurance is a fast, nimble way to compensate communities for losses. Its growing popularity in the disaster space (from earthquakes to hurricanes) makes it a necessary tool to help communities bounce back.
The Dixon Trail community in California could signal a way forward for stakeholders grappling with the heightened risk of building, owning, and insuring homes in the fire-prone West.
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.
When disaster strikes, the question is not whether we will rebuild, but how. The problem is that it costs more to rebuild a home to disaster-resilient standards. We need new flexible and dedicated financing products that make it easier for homeowners to make critical resilience investments.
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.
Homeowners who built their homes to IBHS-certified FORTIFIED standards saved thousands after Hurricane Sally hit in 2020. The FORTIFIED building standard is saving homes from Category 3 storm damage, and also saving homeowners and insurance companies costs on annual insurance premiums and claims.
