According to an
International Herald Tribune report,
insurers + re-insurers who have assessed the actual + potential cost of the massive floods that occurred in
Central + Eastern Europe last year (and who have also had their overall
profitability threatened by the September 11th attacks) have now made the connection between
climate change + a serious risk of rapidly
increasing insurance pay-outs...
As a result of this
factoring in of the risk of an increase in climate-related costs - which may or may not begin to afflict certain areas
more frequently + severely - those who have traditionally found themselves in the path of destructive natural phenomena such as
floods, hurricanes + blizzards, but have still been offered relatively cheap insurance cover, may start to find they are
unable to obtain any cover at all, while those who are less directly affected may still see their
insurance premiums shoot up...
Perhaps this will also mean we begin to see
insurance companies rewarding behaviour, today, that currently only appears to make
economically rational sense, over the longer term?
Such as the
reduction of carbon emissions through
increased energy efficiency,
pay-as-you-drive insurance,
greater uptake of renewable energy + increased recycling.