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Newsletter

Friday, 18 September 2009

Climate Change Newsletter No 20

Summary

Climate Change Newsletter No 20

ABI NEWS

 

  • Seminar on UKCP09 and the insurance sector: ABI, supported by ClimateWise and the Willis Research Network, has hosted a half-day workshop on the 27th August, to discuss the Government's new climate data UKCP09. The workshop gave insurers and risk professionals a chance to learn more about the new data and to discuss it in the context of insurance with a special focus on flood risk. Speakers included representatives from Defra, UKCIP, The European Space Agency,  the Environment Agency, and the UK Met Office.  A panel debate with industry representatives about the data needs of the industry concluded the seminar. The presentations will be made available on ABI’s website shortly.

 

  • Defra Consultation on GHG emission reporting: ABI has responded to Defra/DECC consultation on the draft guidance for the reporting of GHG emissions. Under the Climate Change Act, Defra have to produce guidance on how companies should report carbon emissions by 1 October 2009, mandatory reporting must be introduced by 2012.  If it is not introduced the Secretary of State has to report to Parliament as to why not. Defra is aware that this draft guidance may be treated as a preliminary version of potential mandatory reporting. See attachment in the right hand column. For more information please contact Andrew Ninian.

 

  • Response to the Draft Floods and Water Management Bill: ABI has submitted a response to the consultation on the draft Floods and Water Management Bill. The ABI welcomes the Flood and Water Management Bill as an important step to make England and Wales safer from flooding and calls for the proposals to be strengthened in five key area: the introduction of clear climate adaptation targets, greater public scrutiny of local, regional and national flood risk management efforts, a matching long-term investment strategy to ensure future funding levels, more support for resilience measures and a stronger focus on information sharing and access to data.  The full response is attached. For more information please contact Swenja Surminski.

 

  • Response to Scottish Government Consultation on Adaptation: ABI has submitted a response to the Scottish Government, supporting the Scottish Government’s efforts on adaptation and urging for more cooperation with the business community. See attachment in the right hand column.

 

  • Response to Environment Agency’s Consultation on the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan: ABI has responded to the consultation, reminding the EA of the importance of the Thames region in terms of risk accumulation and calling for more efforts on surface water flood risk management. See attachment in the right hand column.  

 

  • ClimateWise report: ABI has submitted its annual ClimateWise - Commitment report, a requirement for all ClimateWise signatories. The report outlines ABI’s activities under the different ClimateWise principles. See attachment in the right hand column.

 

  • ABI presented at Swiss Re’s Adaptation Summit, 9th/10th July in Zurich:

The Summit on the Economics of Adaptation was jointly organized by SwissRe and Mckinsey & Company. There were discussions on new and provocative ideas including risk transfer in particularly vulnerable communities, Financing and Investment in the Water Sector. Presentations were also shared on  detailed findings from the working group,  a partnership of  multi-lateral institutions (United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Facility), leading environmental institutions (Rockefeller Foundation, Climate Works), and private sector players (Standard Charter Bank, Swiss Re), on adaptation strategy methodology and risk management framework, with the aim of providing decision makers with frameworks and facts to design and execute an adaptation strategy. 

  • Insurance Times Event “Inconvenient truths”, 15th July, London: ABI’s Swenja Surminski was a panelist at the Claims Clinic session on climate change.

 

  • ABI spoke at coastal adaptation event in NYC 9th/10th June: The International Workshop:‘ Connecting Delta Cities ‘ -  About coastal cities, climate change and adaptation; A global exchange of experiences” was hosted by the City of New York under the C40 initiative. A summary report is available at www.deltacities.com

 

  • ‘International Climate Insurance Solution Discussion’: On 14th July ABI and ClimateWise jointly hosted a roundtable discussion with insurers on proposals currently being discussed at UN level about the role of insurance in climate adaptation. For more information please contact Andrew Voysey.

 

  • ABI participated in panel debate at the ‘Flood Management 09’ conference on 25th June  in London – subject of the discussion: ““'Flood Risk Management - How can we support households with a high risk of flooding?'”

 

  • ABI provided an update on the ABI Adaptation Strategy at the Environment Agency’s FLOOD AND COASTAL RISK MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE in TELFORD, 30th JUNE – 2nd JULY 2009 – See attachment in the right hand column.

 

  • ABI attended the launch of the Environment Agency’s new report Climate change, adapting for tomorrow on 13th July 2009 in London. The report looks at how different sectors and parts of the country are adapting to climate change, providing case-studies and further information on future challenges.

Insurance News

 

·         The Treasury – led Insurance Industry Working Group (IIWG) publishes report on 2020 vision for the industry.  The group was set up in October 2008 to look at the challenges and opportunities facing the UK Insurance Industry. It is co-chaired by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling and Andrew Moss, Group Chief Executive of Aviva and includes leading figures from across the insurance sector.  The report contains a series of important recommendations, also covering climate change: “reducing risks in society so we can better tackle issues such as climate change”. Full report:

 

  • Call to sign The  Corporate Leaders Group's Copenhagen Communiqué ( attached) - ClimateWise’s Chairman, Andrew Torrance (CEO of Allianz UK) has written to all ClimateWise members and encouraged them to sign the communiqué. This is a statement from business on the need for urgent action at Copenhagen.  It will be presented to Ban Ki-moon in September 2009, and could make a significant contribution to building momentum towards a political deal in Copenhagen in December.  See attached. More information:

 

  • Geneva Association Report Launch, 2nd July The Geneva Association has launched a new research report, The insurance industry and climate change—Contribution to the global debate. The report was drafted by insurance executives and international climate change experts.

 

  • New Scientist Article: “An insurance plan for climate change victims”: AS WESTERN governments dither at the negotiating table over how to help the world's poorest people cope with climate change, some unlikely saviours have stepped up to the plate: the giants of the global insurance industry. As well as providing protection from the increasingly unpredictable weather, the premiums could also be a powerful way to get poor people to adapt to climate change by encouraging them to invest in measures like drought-resistant crops. Is this profit-driven endeavour too good to be true? See full article:

 

  • Report ‘Linking Disaster Risk Reduction and Insurance ‘: UN publishes new report on Linking Disaster Risk Reduction and Insurance to achieve climate adaptation – please see attached.

 

 

  • ClimateWise initiative recruits new members: In joining ClimateWise, the three new members, Santam (Southern Africa’s largest short-term insurer), TrygVesta (the Nordic region’s second largest general insurer) and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company (a leading U.S. provider of property and casualty insurance and subsidiary of Allianz SE), further underline the initiative’s international influence and appeal, with membership now covering three continents: Europe, North America and Africa, all of which will play crucial roles in the UN climate change negotiations at the end of the year.

 

  • Axa launches flooding manifest in Parliament: On 14th July Axa launched a manifesto insisting more needs to be done to prevent a recurrence. More information.

 

  • Munich Re: 400 billion euro plan to bring African solar energy to Europe. AFP, 13 July 2009 -  Twelve European companies launched a 400-billion-euro (560-billion-dollar) initiative Monday to plant huge solar farms in Africa and the Middle East to produce energy for Europe. More information:

 

  • ClimateWire Article: British insurers prepare for 'worst case' climate impacts; Americans mostly don't – See article

 

  • ClimateRisk report: Underinsurance and climate change pose huge challenges for Australian communities says ClimateRisk: “The increase in extreme weather events caused by climate change coupled with many businesses failing to have the right insurance in place is creating a perfect storm that could make it impossible for small towns to rebuild after fires.”  Please find attached the full story from Climate Risk.

 

·         Latest Lloyd's 360 Report: Lloyd's has launched its latest 360 Risk Insight Report - "Global business leader survey: risk priorities and preparedness". The report  is based on a global survey of 570 CEOs into their current risk priorities and preparedness. Some of the key report findings include:

o   Risks relating to the economy are foremost in the minds of executives

o   Some risks, such as climate change and terrorism, have a suprisingly low priority (and high preparedness) rating

o   There are significant regional variations in terms of political and environmental / health risks

o   Companies are becoming more risk averse as the global economic downturn continues

To read and learn more about the risks facing global executives, download a copy of the report


  • New publication shows index insurance has potential to help manage climate risks and reduce poverty: Index insurance now offers major opportunities as a climate-risk management tool in developing countries, according to a new publication launched recently at the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva.

    Other news

     

    • New UK Climate Projections (UKCP09) launched. UKCP09 provides the latest information on how the climate of the United Kingdom is likely to change over the rest of this century. There are different projections for a range of scenarios with different levels of emissions of greenhouse gases. Modelling has been done based on a 25 x 25 km grid and results are available for English regions including London and for major river catchments. The results are presented in a probabilistic format (for example, that there is a x% chance that the temperature will be more than y degrees C by the period 2050-2079) rather than the single number central estimates provided in each UKCIP02 scenario. Access to the main technical information about UKCP09, and the full range of information and support. A gentler introduction is here
    • The Environment Agency publishes two new flooding reports:
      • Flooding in England which shows that 1 in 6 homes in England are at risk of flooding. In London, about 40,000 homes are at significant risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
      • Investing for the future. Flood and coastal risk management in England - a long term investment strategy which sets out the case for an increase in expenditure on flood defences and considers other sources of funding than central government.
    • Government publishes 5-point action plan on climate change, “designed both to reduce emissions at home and abroad and to protect and prepare for the changes that are already inevitable”:
      • Protecting the public from immediate risk. This includes flood defences and heatwave planning.
      • Preparing for the future. Factoring climate risk into decision making, for example, changing the way we build our houses and infrastructure, managing water better and adjusting farming practices.
      • Limiting the severity of future climate change through a new international climate agreement
      • Building a low carbon UK
      • Supporting individuals, communities and businesses to play their part
      More information 

     

     

    • G8 Summit declaration on world economy and climate change published – please see attached

     

     

    • Adaptation Sub-Committee appointed to advise Government on adapting to climate change: Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has warned that the UK needs to put plans in place to enable the country to adapt to the threat posed by floods, heat waves and coastal erosion.  In response to this, a small group of experts have been appointed to the Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The first six members of the ASC are: Dr Sam Fankhauser, Professor Martin Parry, Professor Jim Hall, Dr Andrew Dlugolecki, Baroness Barbara Young and Mr Graham Wynne.

     

    Research & Publications

     

    • World Bank Report on Adapting to Climate Change in Europe and Central Asia

      

    • New report on ‘Building Commissioning by University of California, Berkely: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions’: report provides the world's largest database of commissioning case studies for new and existing buildings – where expert advisers hav e been commissioned to reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse-gas emissions in buildings today by retrofitting and constriucting buildings.  Full report        

     

    • Mapping groundwater flooding for the EU Floods Directive
      In the coming years the EU Floods Directive will require Member States to produce flood hazard and risk maps. Taking the UK as a case study, new research highlights the need for advances in data collection, mapping and groundwater flood warning systems to meet EU requirements for maps and management plans. Please see attached for more information.
      Climate-driven changes in German floodsA recent study suggests climate change has increased flooding in many regions in Germany, but that flood patterns vary across the country. When planning protective measures, regulators should be aware of the behaviour of flooding in specific areas of the country. Please see attachment.    
      'Europeans'attitudes towards climate change - Special Eurobarometer published – see attached.
        United Nations Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction:  The first edition of the United Nations Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction offers a comprehensive review and analysis of global  natural hazards and urges a radical shift in development practices, and a major new emphasis on resilience and disaster planning.                  

           

          Upcoming Conferences


          •     Workshop Invitation: British – Dutch Symposium and Exhibition - Design to live with future flooding, 24 September 2009, Lincoln 

          • Invitation to the Nordic Insurers Climate Conference, Thursday 17 September 2009 in Copenhagen: The insurance and pension industry has an important role to play in connection with the climate. We have a responsibility to limit the emission of CO2 and to ensure that the Nordic countries adjust their societies to the future climate. Consequently, the Nordic insurance and pension industry puts focus on climate change and brings forward suggestions, as regards how the industry may contribute with solutions in favour of our climate, so that we in future can take part in ensuring a sustainable society. Read more about the conference.

           Organisers: The Danish Insurance Association (Forsikring & Pension), The Swedish Insurance Federation (Forsäkringsforbundet), The Norwegian Financial Services Association (FNH) and The Federation of Finnish Financial Services (Finansbranschens Centralförbund).

          • Carbon Capture and Storage - next steps: finance, demonstration and feasibility - Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum Morning, 23rd October, 2009, Central London.

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         




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