As destructive weather-related events show less predictable patterns and continue to increase in frequency and severity amid the warming climate, Veronica Scotti, Chairperson, Public Sector Solutions, Swiss Re, has suggested that “we need to adapt as well as mitigate to make our world more resilient now.”
“Climatic natural disasters caused global economic losses of $275 billion in 2022 and this upward trend is expected to continue as urbanisation, property development and economic growth will increase the economic value at risk and number of lives exposed,” Scotti explained in a recent blog post for Swiss Re.
She added that addressing vulnerability in our built environment has become a pressing priority, citing the success story following the 2011 Brisbane floods that damaged over 420,000 buildings and homes.
“10 years later, the landscape around the river has been adapted with ‘floating ferry stops’, raised living spaces and improved stormwater management systems. This has increased the city’s flood resilience and also created a more attractive precinct for residents, businesses and tourists,” Scotti said.
She observed that such examples of climate adaptation also highlight the importance of updating building code standards, in reducing the impact of the risk, as the retrospective on Hurricane Ian illustrates.
Scotti continued, “Meaningful strides have been made on climate mitigation; collaborations such as the WEF Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, where member organisations have in aggregate achieved a 10% emissions reduction between 2019 and 2021 goes to illustrate the power of working together.
“But since our planet has already grown warmer, mitigation efforts aimed at cutting future emissions won’t be enough.
“In parallel, society must redirect trillions of dollars to finance transformative climate adaptation actions to make our world more resilient now, and be prepared for the future climate risk.”
Scotti said that the public sector plays a central role in catalysing and enabling adaptation initiatives, in collaboration with other parties who can then further scale, maintain and embed the appropriate management actions.
She noted that the insurance industry can support the business case for climate adaptation, referencing how Swiss Re and other insurers have been working with Zep Re and the World Bank, on the DRIVE project.
“Here the aim is to enable pastoralists living in the Horn of Africa countries to adapt to the changing climate, raise and commercialise high-value livestock production and improve financial inclusion and access to markets,” Scotti said.
She went on, “1.6 million pastoralists and their families are already benefiting from DRIVE and the project has recently added a Takaful insurance product and is looking to grow further its reach and find more partners to support its ambitions.”
Scotti concluded the blog post with, “It is in our collective interest to accelerate investment in adaptation and help society withstand the consequences of climate change.
“A benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) can trigger the decision for action, to then draw in the necessary expertise and local engagement to design and implement appropriate and effective adaptation programmes. It’s in the correct execution of these programs that resilience can truly be built.
“Our initial comparative study of flood and heat-related adaptation interventions suggests that BCRs are practical metrics, but it also brought to light the lack of data and examples of effective adaptation interventions.
“At COP 28 I will be calling for partners, project developers and sponsors to develop and integrate this approach to jump-start work on climate adaptation programmes and building a better repository of examples that we can learn from and compare.
“Mother Nature at her fiercest, is an unstoppable force, that must be respected. I learnt this from childhood. What we need now is to get organised on benefit realisation for climate adaptation. After all, they say, what gets measured gets managed…
