Climate change: Financial expert warns against doubling insurance premiums

Climate change: Financial expert warns against doubling insurance premiums

As www.focus.de reports, Germany is faced with the challenge of dealing with the damage caused by increasing natural disasters and weather extremes. Climate change is leading to more frequent floods, storms and other extreme weather events that cause massive damage to buildings. This leads to discussions about who should ultimately bear the damage: the state, the insurance companies or the property owners.

The federal government has so far provided generous financial support for damage settlement. However, as extreme weather events and natural disasters increase, the state's willingness to pay for these losses will decrease. According to climate researchers, floods like those that occurred around the turn of the year will become more frequent.

In view of these developments, the prime ministers of the federal states are calling for compulsory insurance for natural hazards. This demand has so far been rejected by the Federal Ministry of Justice, but pressure is increasing, particularly from state governments and political parties. It is emphasized that the state will not be able to cover the costs of settling the damage in the long term.

The insurance industry is also concerned about the increasing risks and possible uninsurability of buildings due to climate change. The President of the General Association of the German Insurance Industry predicts that insurance premiums for property owners will double if no measures are taken to adapt to the effects of the climate.

According to a report by www.focus.de, measures to adapt to climate impacts and to manage damage are urgently needed as natural disasters are increasing as a result of climate change. Mandatory natural hazard insurance for buildings is seen as a way to distribute costs more fairly and reduce the burden on the state.