The Insurance Industry Take on Global Warming

Last week, I wondered aloud why the insurance industry was financing some prominent global warming skeptics. Environmental Science & Technology reporter Paul Thacker wrote me today pointing out that the industry has a long-standing interest in global warming studies, and over the years has supported research by a range of scholars. He also alerted me to a fascinating interview he conducted with Evan Mills, a staff scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who closely monitors the insurance industry's response to global warming. One interesting factoid: weather related insurance losses in 2005 approached $80 billion, four times the losses of 9/11.

Here's Evans on why they're so concerned:

Insurers are better equipped to understand and evaluate the science than most other industries, and they have no particular vested interest in propping up polluting industries. To the contrary, pollution liability is one of the emerging (often insured) risks that keep them up at night. They are also more vulnerable to the impacts; they can’t afford to overlook or be wrong about the science. Insurers who have looked at the climate-change issue closely see more burdensome economic costs from inaction than from prudent action, and, in fact, they are developing business opportunities associated with climate-change mitigation and adaptation solutions. They are also quick to recognize that investments in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions can be highly cost-effective in terms of reduced energy expenditures.