Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer
Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets -
and civilisation itself - can operate, says senior Allianz figure
The climate crisis is on track to destroy capitalism, a top insurer
has warned, with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the
financial sector unable to operate.
The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will
no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks, said Gunther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world's biggest
insurance companies. He said that without insurance, which is already
being pulled in some places, many other financial services become
unviable, from mortgages to investments.
...
...
The core business of the insurance industry is risk management and it
has long taken the dangers of global heating very seriously. In recent
reports, Aviva said extreme weather damages for the decade to 2023 hit
$2tn, while GallagherRE said the figure was $400bn in 2024. Zurich
said it was "essential" to hit net zero by 2050.
...
...
Thallinger said it was a systemic risk "threatening the very
foundation of the financial sector", because a lack of insurance means
other financial services become unavailable: "This is a
climate-induced credit crunch."
"This applies not only to housing, but to infrastructure,
transportation, agriculture, and industry," he said. "The economic
value of entire regions - coastal, arid, wildfire-prone - will begin
to vanish from financial ledgers. Markets will reprice, rapidly and
brutally. This is what a climate-driven market failure looks like."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer
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