Heatwave and drought – Swiss Re boss urges adaptation
“Insurance helps households and businesses recover, while pricing risk can inform decisions about where to invest. But it cannot make up for avoidable damage. This can only be achieved through reducing the risk itself through careful adaptation.”
This is the call from Jason Richards, Swiss Re’s UK and Ireland CEO, as the UK swelters in its fifth heatwave of the year.
Richards flagged research from the Swiss Re Institute that showed Europe now experiences 64% more hot days, when temperatures reach 30°C or above, than it did in the 1950s.
“The UK has tended to treat heat and drought as uncommon and temporary summer problems,” Richards observed. “That is becoming harder to justify as these conditions become more frequent.”
The Swiss Re boss
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