US Treasury Drops Plan to Collect Insurer Data on Climate Risks - Bloomberg
US Treasury Drops Plan to Collect Insurer Data on Climate Risks - Bloomberg
US Treasury Drops Plan to Collect Insurer Data on Climate Risks
The agency will work with state insurance regulators after its plans to collect its own data faced pushback from the industry and Republicans in Congress.
A house in Cristal River, Florida, partially submerged in floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia on Aug. 30, 2023. Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg
The US government is stepping away from its effort to collect data on home insurance prices and availability at the Zip code level as premiums soar and climate risks to property intensify. Instead, it will join in a collaborative effort with state insurance regulators.
When the Treasury Department announced in October 2022 its plans to collect such information through the Federal Insurance Office, it said detailed information on premiums and policy non-renewals and cancellations was needed to understand which geographical areas could be subject to “major disruptions” in insurance coverage due to climate change.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”