Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation CEO Dr Chris Wallace highlighted the need for global collaboration and cooperation between the public-private sector to address the growing terrorism threat at the inaugural International Forum of Terrorism Risk Re Insurance Pools (IFTRIP*) Paris conference.
“Terrorism is a global issue and the nature of threats is constantly evolving. We must remain at the forefront of global efforts to meet the challenges, including appropriate coverage and mitigation strategies.”
“Maintaining excellent working relationships with our global terrorism pools so we can share knowledge, insights and best practice, is a key part of this,” said Dr Wallace.
The IFTRIP was founded in October 2016 to provide a platform for international collaboration on all matters of terrorism insurance, to help both re/insurers and governments remain one step ahead of the evolving threat and reduce the economic and social impact of terror.
François Vilnet, IFTRIP chairman, commented that “no country in the world, however well protected, can consider itself immune from terrorism and the need for international cooperation to prevent, mitigate and better cover these horrific incidents has never been more acute.
“The level of knowledge and risk management developed in national terrorism pools and schemes can form part of this response.”
The nature and degree of terror threat has increased significantly in recent years, with cyber terrorism, and ‘lone wolf attacks’ among other threats changing the risk scape.
Geopolitical risks have been exacerbated by the dual challenges of populism and terrorism, which both feed into and propagate the other, said Aon, noting a 14% increase in global terror attacks last year in its Risk Maps report.
This terrorism risk increase creates an increasingly uncertain and difficult environment for international business, and particularly for businesses operating in emerging markets.
On a national level, terrorism attack risks have increased from high to severe in Turkey and the UK.
Julian Enoizi, CEO of the United Kingdom’s Pool Re, commented; “By bringing together the collective expertise of the world’s terrorism (re)insurance pools we can continue to drive forward innovation in terrorism coverage and look to ensure that our industry is able to support our nations against an evolving terrorist threat.”
