Climate Change Seen Posing Big Risk For Insurers SYDNEY The
global insurance industry faces substantial risks from climate
change due to the increased incidence of cyclones, floods,
drought and bushfires, a major European reinsurer told the
Greenhouse 2007 conference. Losses from tropical cyclones were
increasing particularly strongly, Eberhard Faust, head of
climate risks at Munich Re (MUVGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research),
he told the conference organized by the Australian government-
backed Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization. Increasingly built-up coastal areas were highly
susceptible to catastrophes associated with climate change, with
potential annual losses now $200 billion against $25 billion in
1950. Hurricane Katrina caused about $66 billion in losses in
2005 when it devastated the southern United States city of New
Orleans, just a year after Hurricane Ivan caused $13.7 billion
in property damage in the Caribbean. Global flood catastrophes
were also growing, with flooding in Eu