Damage from natural disasters is expected to have cost insurers some $35 billion (almost as much in francs) in the first six months of 2022.
Added to this are 3 billion in connection with human activity, according to the latest estimates from Swiss Re.
A series of winter storms in Europe, unprecedented flooding in Australia and South Africa as well as a high number of bad weather in the United States and on the Old Continent risk increasing the insured costs to the tune of 35 billion dollars worldwide, according to provisional data compiled by experts from the Zurich reinsurer.
“The effects of climate change are manifesting themselves in increasingly extreme events,” said Martin Bertogg, head of disaster risk, quoted in a statement on Tuesday. And to cite in particular the floods in Australia, whose insured costs are around – to date – 3.5 billion, “a new record for damage caused by floods in the country”, underlines Swiss Re.
Two summer heat waves have also caused devastating forest fires in southwestern Europe. “In June, the global average temperature was regarding 0.3°C higher than the average for the years 1991-2020”, making this month of June the third hottest since records began.
Secondary risks on the rise
“The bad weather of the past six months illustrates once once more that the frequency and severity of natural disasters, especially secondary risks, are increasing in all regions,” Swiss Re’s experts point out. almost a quarter (22%) to the average of the last ten years, which is around 29 billion dollars.
“As 75% of all natural disasters are still uninsured, we are seeing significant coverage gaps around the world, which are now being compounded by the cost of living crisis,” notes the Chief Economist. of Swiss Re, Jerome Jean Haegeli. According to him, the insurance sector “plays, together with the public sector, an important role in strengthening the resilience of society in the face of climate risks”.
Global economic damage linked to natural disasters and human activity is estimated for the first half at 75 billion dollars, a figure down more than 20% year on year, and 7% lower than the average of the last ten years (80 billion).
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats/awp