Insurance & Climate Risk Americas

Registration and morning coffee

Welcome address

Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

KEYNOTE ADDRESS:

Dave Jones, Insurance Commissioner, California Department of Insurance

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Climate change action and sustainable development in the context of the insurance industry, financial regulation and global policy frameworks

Butch Bacani, Programme Leader, UN Environment's Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Mitigating and managing risks associated with climate change

• Insured and uninsured losses from climate events in 2017
• How are P&C re/insurers' balance sheets positioned to deal with increased weather events? Are property catastrophe premiums too low?
• Does climate risk have a net negative credit impact on the P&C industry?
• What would this mean for risk mitigation and capital allocations?
• ILS and cat bonds: will they withstand increasing climate risk?
• The impact on life and health insurers: future changes in mortality and health

Ernst Rauch, Chief Climate and Geo Scientist, Munich Re

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Climate resilience strategies and the role of the insurer to build resilience and sustainability

• Increasing penetration of insurance in a world of growing climate risk
• How insurers can help society to manage climate risk
• What can state regulators and local government bodies do to reduce physical risks and aid disaster mitigation?
• How can re/insurers lift the burden of stretched local and federal budgets?
• Soaring urbanization and what this means for the insurability of climate risks
• Which countries are implementing micro-insurance programs?

Maurice Tulloch, Chief Executive Officer, International Insurance, Aviva and Former Chair, ClimateWise

CASE STUDY: A state regulator’s perspective on climate risk and the insurance industry

Mike Kreidler, Insurance Commissioner, State of Washington and Chair, NAIC Climate Change & Global Warming Working Group

PANEL: Understanding climate transition risks

• Underwriting climate risk: interconnected risks and the effect on liabilities
• How are underwriting climate risk assessments being shared with investment teams?
• Aligning asset management, underwriting and risk management activities to support climate resilience
• Transition risks: potential re-pricing of carbon intensive assets
• How much appetite is there to de-carbonize underwriting and investment portfolios?
• Mortgage-backed securities and climate change: is there a default risk?
• Muni bonds: will they become less attractive as the cost of adapting to climate change rises?

Panelists:

Karsten Berlage, Managing Director, Alternative Risk Transfer division, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Adam Zurofsky, Deputy Secretary for Energy and Financial Services, Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo
Frederic Dhers, Senior Vice President, Head of the Americas, SCOR Business Solutions
Emily Kreps, Head of Investor Initiatives, North America, CDP

Moderator: Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

PRESENTATION: Climate risk and the protection gap

• Trends in climate risk as it relates to the protection gap
• Interrelated risks, parametric studies and proposed solutions to the projection gap
• Natural assets and oceans: building resilience and opportunities for new products

Andrew MacFarlane, Chief Actuary, XL Catlin Re Bermuda

PRESENTATION: Liability risks and developments in attribution claims

• How are developments in attribution science improving our ability to detect human influence on extreme weather events?
• How likely it is that climate risk will be passed onto insurance firms under third-party liability contracts?
• Which cases have been brought forward already and by whom?
• Which issues and liability vulnerabilities are plaintiffs highlighting?
• What are the legal theories underpinning actions?

Lindene Patton, Member, Earth & Water Law LLC

PRESENTATION: Regulatory changes and disclosure initiatives

• The progress and effectiveness of climate and environmental disclosure initiatives
• Current regulatory practices responding to climate risk
• How is the TCFD informing policy and corporate approaches to climate disclosure?
• The TCFD Knowledge Hub: current resources available

Mardi McBrien, Managing Director, Climate Disclosure Standards Board

PRESENTATION: Climate risk as a product innovation opportunity

• Renewable energy project insurance
• EVs – what are the risks?
• Construction and performance risks
• Public policy and liability products
• Corporate climate volatility as an insurance product
• Which natural assets could find themselves covered by innovative insurance products?

Megan Thomas, Chief Underwriting Officer, AXIS Capital

PRESENTATION: Access and affordability in Brazil and Latin America

• Trends in climate risk and cover across the regions
• Which areas most vulnerable to climate risk?
• Commitment to climate risk transparency as it relates to the sustainability of insurance markets
• Recent trends in the Brazilian financial regulatory framework

Alexandre Henriques Leal Neto, Technical Director, CNseg

PRESENTATION: Catastrophe modelling and climate risk

• Scientific advances in forecasting, storm tracking and communications
• What the data is telling us: is this the new normal?
• Innovations in nat-cat models and flood modelling
• Is confidence in pricing flood risk increasing?
• How are risk modelers dealing with increased uncertainty?
• Historical data and model update lag time – can it ever be adequate?

 Marla Schwartz, Atmospheric Perils Specialist, Swiss Re

PANEL: Low-carbon and ESG investment strategies

• How sizable are insurers' investments in low-carbon assets?
• Managing the transition to a low-carbon economy: what do you invest in instead?
• Liquidity and risk considerations when investing in renewables
• Scaling clean energy infrastructure investments
• How attractive are green bonds? How effective are they as a climate risk mitigation tool?
• Are companies that invest in green assets more likely to outperform peers and avoid a "run for green" later?

Panelists:

Cynthia McHale, Director of Insurance, Ceres
Randy Brown, Chief Investment Officer, Sunlife Financial
John Anderson, Head of Corporate Finance, Manulife
Peter Uhlenbruch, Investor Engagement Officer, Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP)

Moderator: Michael Hurley, Staff Writer, Environmental Finance

PRESENTATION: The US insurance industry, fossil fuels and climate change

• Insurance companies particularly in Europe have started to divest from and cease underwriting coal and tar sands companies. How are US insurers responding to this trend?

Peter Bosshard, Finance Programme Director, The Sunrise Project

Closing Remarks and End of Conference