Time for action on ocean risk

Source: The Royal Gazette

The world’s first Ocean Risk Summit held in Bermuda recently drew leaders from across political, economic, environmental and risk sectors to identify the potential exposures to ocean-related risk and tackle its broad-ranging consequences.

Scientists are telling us that the ocean is being transformed faster than anything our planet has experienced in 65 million years and, as such, the results could be transformational from multiple perspectives, including a broad new category of risk.

A new report titled Ocean Risk and the Insurance Industry, written by Falk Niehörster, Director of BIOS's Risk Prediction Initiative with the support of XL Catlin, was released on the opening day of the summit.

The report leaves no doubt about the urgent need for the insurance industry to equip itself for the severe and far-reaching impacts of ocean change — more intense storms, sea-level rise, loss of fish stocks, and ocean-borne viruses — and stresses that our industry has an opportunity to play a vital role by identifying risk-transfer solutions and mitigation strategies to avoid worst-case scenarios.