Category: ECO_INSURANCE_MN

Financial regulators worldwide are grappling with the impact of climate change and the increasing risk it presents for financial systems, while climate scientists call for rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to prevent a climate disaster. At the same time, U.S. insurers remain highly exposed to fossil fuel-dependent industries like oil, gas, coal and utilities, and the pace of change in the industry is slow.

Climate change and its devastating impact are accelerating faster than ever, according to a new report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Hurricanes are becoming stronger, rainfall heavier and flood risk higher. Yet, America’s National Flood Insurance Program hasn’t changed at all since its inception.

Currently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides $1.3 trillion in coverage for more than 5 million policyholders in 23,500 communities nationwide through the National Flood Insurance Program. But on October 1, the program will be overhauled to price each property’s unique flood risk while taking climate change into account–the most substantive change to the program since 1968.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been collecting a lot of information about flood risks across America, including the increased risk of flooding linked to climate change. But the agency has not effectively used that new knowledge to persuade more Americans to buy flood insurance, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Floods in Germany, ice storms in Texas and heat domes in the Pacific Northwest are focusing attention in the insurance industry on the cumulative damage wrought by clusters of second-tier catastrophes.

Climate-induced flooding has inundated coastal cities, yet new reporting from Politico shows that government mortgage lenders like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to pump money into severely flood-prone property markets. 

Roughly 86% of Texans with federal flood insurance could see their premiums go up next year when a new program goes into effect, according to data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program is revamping how it calculates flood risk for the first time in 50 years to better reflect a property’s flood risk and to be able to “adapt and re-adjust rates based on a changing, unpredictable climate,” according to the agency.

This year’s hurricane season began early, with a named storm forming before the official start on June 1, and it is expected to be active. If you lack flood insurance, especially if you live near the coast, this is the time to consider it.

An upcoming overhaul of the federal government’s flood insurance program will financially benefit many of the nation’s lowest-income communities by cutting premiums for a large share of their residents, an E&E News analysis of government data shows. But the restructuring will be costly for some affluent coastal communities as the National Flood Insurance Program starts charging higher rates for houses that are expensive to replace or are vulnerable to rising sea levels and intensifying storm surge.

The world’s leading insurance companies, especially U.S. ones, are underwriting and investing in industries that drive planetary heating, destroy ecosystems, and violate human rights, according to Insuring Disaster, a new report released Wednesday by a United Kingdom-based financial industry watchdog.