23 Nov 2014

Growing evidence suggests that climate change is worsening 
through droughts and other severe weather events such as cyclones, tornadoes, 
floods and wildfires, says University of Botswana Department of Environmental
 Science Lecturer, Mr David Lesolle.

Deliberating
 at the 37th Organisation for Eastern and Southern Africa Insurers (OESAI)
 annual conference, Mr Lesolle said those natural disasters could destroy homes,
 cars, businesses and crops, leading to more and larger insurance claims.

He said insurers 
in some countries have stopped offering coverage, others have limited what they
 cover and also lead to higher insurance premiums that many people cannot
 afford, leaving them uninsured or underinsured.

The last 
economic recession was probably triggered by climate related events and saidv
the insurance sector is going to be one of the hardest hit by climate change,
from rising claims to losses on investments.

He said the winners 
in this sector would be those companies that understand the risks and 
opportunities facing their businesses and embed it into their strategies and 
operations.



“There are several barriers to climate change adaptation such as financial,
institutional, social, cultural, technological and informational, he said.

He said increased 
realisation that available funding may not always be sufficient to cover the 
financial requirements of rehabilitation, mitigation and adaptation,
specifically in case of extreme events.



However, Mr Lesolle said insurance may be an instrument worth exploring as an
instrument for providing ‘risk-cover’ against the impacts of climate change and 
variability, specifically for extreme weather events.

On the other 
hand, he noted that creation of viable insurance markets requires risk pooling 
and reinsurance mechanisms with the former requiring pooling across sectors and
countries and the may require access to a source of funds that is generated
 through automatic contributions.

Mr Lesolle 
noted that adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or
expected climatic stimuli or their effects include anticipatory and reactive
adaptation, private and public adaptation, and autonomous and planned
adaptation.



He said there is an urgent need to determine how contracts can be designed to
 meet the needs of very vulnerable groups, especially women, adding that in the 
longer term, a more intractable challenge is the rising levels of risk as
climate change gathers pace. ENDS