The (Re)Insurance Industry’s Roles in the Integration of Nature-Based Solutions for Prevention in Disaster Risk Reduction—Insights from a European Survey

• Published in: Sustainability Vol. 11; no. 22; pp. 6212 - 24
• Main Authors: Marchal, Roxane, Piton, Guillaume, Lopez-Gunn, Elena, Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro, van der Keur, Peter, Dartée, Kieran W. J., Pengal, Polona, Matthews, John H., Tacnet, Jean-Marc, Graveline, Nina, Altamirano, Monica A., Joyce, John, Nanu, Florentina, Groza, Ioana, Peña, Karina, Cokan, Blaz, Burke, Sophia, Moncoulon, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Climate change; Disaster insurance; Disasters; Ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Emergency preparedness; Environmental changes; Environmental protection; Environmental Sciences; Extreme weather; Hazard mitigation; Insurance; Insurance companies; Insurance industry; Knowledge; Literature reviews; Mitigation; Prevention; Questionnaires; R&D; Reinsurance; Research & development; Risk management; Risk reduction; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Europe
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su11226212

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being considered as an option to reduce societies’ vulnerability to natural hazards, creating co-benefits while protecting ecosystem services in a context of changing climate patterns with more frequent and extreme weather events. The reinsurance and insurance industries are increasingly cited as sectors that can play a role to help manage risks, by improving disaster risk reduction (DRR) and loss prevention. This paper investigates how the (re)insurance industry could support the transition from a paradigm focused on ex-post responses to ex-ante risk reduction measures including NBS, in line with the Sendai Framework. This paper presents the results of a series of 61 interviews undertaken with the (re)insurance sector and related actors under the EU H2020 Nature Insurance Value Assessment and Demonstration (NAIAD) project. Methods based on a Grounded Theory approach indicate how this sector can play different roles in loss prevention, including ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (eco-DRR). Results illustrate how the (re)insurance industry, under these roles, is gradually innovating by having a better understanding of hazards and mitigation. The findings of the study contribute to wider discussions such as the possibility of new arrangements like natural insurance schemes and evidence-based assessment of avoided damage costs from green protective measures, in Europe and beyond.