Climate Change Drives Up Insurance Costs, Report Says

An annual dashboard of insurance companies has revealed that they “do not understand at all” climate risks.

Climate change has been the leading cause of more than a third of all climate-related insurance losses over the past 20 years, according to a new report from the Insure Our Future campaign. In total, it is estimated that climate change has caused losses worth 600,000 million dollars (567,000 million euros), an immense price that insurance providers have passed on to policyholders. Few regions have been spared in 2024. The United Kingdom, for example, recorded $190 million (€180 million) in insured losses from the extreme rainfall of Storm Henk, while the DANA in Valencia left billions of euros worth of damage. It is estimated that this type of precipitation is four times more likely due to climate change. According to estimates by the Swiss Re Institute, this year Europe recorded the second-largest insured flood losses in its history. Losses from natural disasters are estimated to exceed $135 billion (€128 billion) in 2024 alone. Insure Our Future’s annual scorecard for insurance companies warns of the need for urgent action to address growing climate risks, which could leave vulnerable communities completely unprotected.

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