2023-08-09 10:33:10
(Zurich) The amount of damage caused by natural disasters worldwide fell slightly in the first half, to 120 billion dollars according to an estimate by Swiss Re, but the storms in the United States inflated the bill for insurers.
The costliest disaster was the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Swiss reinsurer said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to a preliminary estimate by the World Bank, the economic losses caused by this earthquake are evaluated at 34 billion dollars, the costs for the insurance companies being estimated at 5.3 billion dollars, according to the calculations of Swiss Re.
But so-called secondary catastrophes, as opposed to major catastrophes like earthquakes or tropical cyclones, have once again driven insurers’ costs up.
The amount of damage had been a little higher in the first half of 2022, at 123 billion dollars following costly floods in Australia and South Africa.
However, the costs for insurers have risen again, to 50 billion dollars during the first half of 2023, against 48 billion a year earlier, again highlighting the “growing impact” of these secondary catastrophes, underlines the group which acts as insurer for insurers.
“The effects of climate change can already be seen in certain perils such as heat waves, drought, floods and extreme rainfall,” said Jérôme Jean Haegeli, chief economist of Swiss Re, quoted in the press release.
Added to this are the risks associated with the expansion of urban areas, particularly in coastal areas or near rivers, which are more exposed to environmental risks.
“It is high time to invest in more climate adaptation,” says the chief economist of Swiss Re, as the group regularly warns of the increase in the frequency and intensity of these secondary disasters.
In the classification of insurance companies, these secondary disasters include hailstorms and floods. In the first half, it was the storms in the United States in particular that pushed up their costs.
35 billion charge for thunderstorms
Insured losses for thunderstorms and associated weather phenomena (such as hail, heavy precipitation, wind and sudden changes in temperature) amounted to $35 billion, including $34 billion in the United States alone, which represents “nearly 70%” of the damage covered by insurers during the first half, quantifies Swiss Re.
Ten thunderstorms resulted in more than $1 billion in damage, with Texas being the hardest-hit state.
Among the significant disasters during the half-year also included the two storms that followed one another in New Zealand, causing flooding in Auckland in particular. Insured losses are estimated at $2.3 billion.
Italy’s torrential rains in the Emilia-Romagna region have also cost insurers $600m, with Swiss Re highlighting the need to boost risk coverage in Italy as economic losses are estimated at $10bn .
Since July, a heat wave has raged in the United States, in northwestern China and in southern Europe, resulting in fires in the Greek islands and Italy, but also in Algeria.
But it is still too early to provide estimates, says Swiss Re.
The amount of damage caused by natural disasters caused the environmental NGO Reclaim Finance to react, its campaign manager, Ariel Le Bourdonnec, calling on insurers to stop “playing arsonist firefighters” by “fueling climate change”.
“Insurers had better stop supporting companies developing new fossil fuel projects that fuel the risk of natural disasters,” he said in an email to AFP.
While the amount of damage has fallen slightly from the first half of 2022, these $120 billion in economic losses for the first half of 2023 are significantly above the ten-year average of $82 billion. .
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