It is always interesting when an unexpected voice speaks about climate change. Our government seems to have an unhealthy approach to the topic. I’m not sure how many 1 in 100 year climate events we need to have for them to change their policies.
In a recent newspaper article Michael Stiassny., in a fiery farewell speech as chair of the Kiwi insurance company Tower, talked about “the chilling reality” of climate change impacting on our homes and neighbourhoods and issued his own contentious wake-up call saying:
“Some of you probably never thought I would be a climate change crusader – but here I am. It’s here, it’s real – it’s not some woke issue, of which there are plenty! – and it’s not simply an environmental issue. Climate change is a financial issue.
“And, the problem I personally have – and where I part ways with the do-gooders – is how do we actually deal with it? As it’s my last day, I can actually say a few things…
He said there’s only so much progress that can be made by focusing on the world’s biggest emitters, “who keep giving us the finger when it comes to climate change”. Yet unfortunately, no one seems willing to act on what could achieve far more: helping people move away from places already being hit, and that will be hit even harder by climate change.
Stiassny said insurers need to work together with central and local govt to deliver a register of the risk profile of every every property, every hill and river and coastline. “Insurers are not just observers of climate change; we are enablers of resilience.”
The insurance industry knows – on a granular level – the specific risks that each home and property faces. Central and local government also have access to this exact same data. “They keep talking about a central register – well, it’s overdue. We must reach the point, immediately, where that information becomes the bible, the single source of truth.”
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