UN Climate Report’s Warnings Compound Worries in Insurance World

A UN climate change report’s warnings are compounding alarm in the insurance industry and companies that pay premiums, as they eye increased risks from more frequent and more severe storms, wildfires, droughts, and rising sea levels threatening coastal cities.

The Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change report—which United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres branded a “code red for humanity"—only worsens fears of increasingly costly payouts for the insurance industry and concern that companies faced with pared-back coverage will opt to go without.

“This is by no means the end of insurance,” but it does represent a wake-up ...