Matthew Washington, aggregate manager at Ascot Underwriting, has called for global action on climate change.
Commenting on the Lloyd's 360 Debate on Climate Change, Washington said: “Following Katrina in 2005, the general debate surrounding the impact of climate change on insured losses has intensified.
“However, while I had high expectations of the Catastrophe Trends discussion and the speakers were eloquent and well informed, I found little novelty or true weight in the debate and much of the rhetoric I had heard before.
"Whilst some scientists may continue to intellectually spar over the correlation between global warming and hurricane intensity in the Atlantic basin, no informed opinion is prepared to oppose that global climate change is a fact, and both developed and developing economies of the world must act to gain control of it.
“Despite the clear climate change signals I found even the panellists using throwaway remarks such as “more initiatives for alternative energies…”, “greater need for technology to assist in carbon reduction…”.
"With the global political agenda already packed with equally emotive issues such as poverty and AIDS, I would raise concerns over what has to happen in order to turn “initiatives for alternative energies” into real-life strategies with defined goals and timescales.
“As to what pressure the insurance industry can bring to bear is another matter, but by Lloyd's taking a concerted, centralised step to raise the profile of these issues, it will perhaps provide a catalyst to ensure everyone is asking about the impact of climate change. Perhaps then we can move some of the future-tense hypotheses into present-tense realism.”
