The Cost of Climate Inaction: Are Insurers Fueling an Uninsurable Future?

Event in English

As climate-driven disasters increase in scale and frequency, the cost of insurance is skyrocketing, rendering many areas uninsurable. Insurers warn of climate risks threatening their business model—yet continue to underwrite fossil fuel expansion, worsening the crisis.
This masterclass, led by Ariel Le Bourdonnec, Insurance and Reinsurance Campaigner at Reclaim Finance, will examine the insurance industry’s role in climate action. How are insurers responding to mounting climate risks? Why are some retreating from high-risk communities while still backing fossil fuel projects? What are regulators and policy makers doing to prevent the insurance gap of natural catastrophes from widening, particularly in France and Europe? And what must policymakers do to regulate insurers and ensure a just transition?
By analysing the climate policies of major insurers across Europe and the United States, this session will explore how insurance practices create a vicious cycle: fueling climate disasters while withdrawing protection from those most affected. It will make the case for insurers’ responsibility to act—by phasing out fossil fuel underwriting, adopting binding emissions targets, and aligning their strategies with climate science.
Hosted by the students of the Environment, Energy, and Sustainability policy stream of the School of Public Affairs.