Climate change affects all insurance rates
Climate change is driving up insurance costs everywhere by increasing extreme weather risks, destabilizing markets, and straining local economies. The solution lies in prevention—cutting global emissions to curb worsening disasters while urging legislators to take action for long-term stability.
By Kate Hancock-Cooke
Nobody’s insurance rates are safe from climate change.
It’s not just California and Florida. Everywhere is susceptible to climate damages, and the nature of insurance is that it pools risks such that we pay for damages even if our own properties aren’t directly affected. Ashville, North Carolina, is a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from climate-worsened extreme weather risks.
A recent Senate Budget Committee report concluded that extreme weather is 'destabilizing insurance markets.' And the problem extends beyond insurance policy costs.
If home values fall, governments take in less tax revenue. That means less money for schools and police. Climate change can wreck communities by something as seemingly mundane and even boring as insurance.
Ultimately the solution must involve prevention: reaching net zero global climate pollution to stop global warming so that these extreme weather events cease to worsen.
In the face of such a challenge, climate advocates like us have an important role to play. We can remind our Legislators that we want them to act to reduce pollution. The sooner they do, the more stability and security we will have.
