Ten years ago, insurance was something you only noticed when you needed it. Today, in some places, you notice it when you can no longer get it.
In California, insurers are retreating from wildfire-prone areas. In Florida, repeated hurricanes have driven carriers out of parts of the market. Behind these decisions lies a simple reality: climate-related losses are rising faster than traditional risk models were designed to handle.
Working in one of Europe’s leading insurance groups, I believe this debate extends far beyond our industry. The growing challenge of insurability is emerging as one of the defining economic issues of our time.
Insurance has always been a business of probability. We assess future risks using historical data and assume that tomorrow will broadly resemble yesterday. Climate change is putting that assumption under unprecedented pressure. When the past becomes a less reliable guide to the future, uncertainty itself becomes harder to insure.
This is not merely an insurance problem. It is an economic signal.
When coverage becomes unaffordable or unavailable, it sends a powerful message about the long-term viability of a location, an asset, or even a business model. Insurers are often among the first to quantify emerging risks. In that sense, insurability is becoming an early indicator of economic resilience.
Many still see this as a challenge confined to regions exposed to hurricanes or wildfires. Europe should think differently.
Floods, heatwaves like last summer, droughts and severe weather events are becoming more frequent across the continent. Even countries with limited exposure to major natural catastrophes are affected through supply chains, infrastructure, and investment decisions. The consequences extend far beyond physical damage.
For business leaders, this changes the conversation entirely.
For decades, insurance was treated as an operational necessity, reviewed once a year as part of the budgeting process. Increasingly, it must be viewed as a strategic consideration alongside talent, capital, energy and technology.
The question is no longer simply whether a risk can be transferred. It is whether that risk remains economically sustainable over time.
The most resilient organisations will not be those that purchase the most insurance. They will be those that actively reduce their exposure through prevention, adaptation and forward-looking investment decisions. The leadership challenge is no longer to buy more protection, but to build greater resilience.
This is why collaboration matters. Insurers, businesses, investors and public authorities all have a role to play in strengthening resilience before vulnerabilities become crises.
A warmer world is not inherently uninsurable. But it is no longer insurable at yesterday’s price.
And perhaps one of the most important competitive advantages of the coming decade will not be access to capital, technology or talent. It will be the ability to remain insurable.
Because insurability is no longer just a financial mechanism. It is becoming a leading indicator of long-term economic viability, signalling well before markets or policymakers where adaptation is no longer optional, but essential.
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