Enhancing the insurance sector’s contribution to climate adaptation

This paper examines the contribution of the insurance sector to climate adaptation. It outlines some of the challenges to assessing future climate risks, encouraging policyholder risk reduction and supporting resilient reinstatement. The paper also identifies potential approaches that policymakers, regulators and supervisors could consider to support a greater contribution of the insurance sector to climate adaptation.

Insurance coverage plays an important role in protecting households, businesses and governments from the financial impacts of climate-related disasters. However, climate change is expected to increase the frequency and/or intensity of a range of climate-related (weather) perils and could potentially limit the availability of affordable insurance in the future. Risk reduction through adaptation to climate change will be the only sustainable means to limit the increase in future climate damages and losses and potential disruptions to insurance markets.