Climate Change and the Impacts on Life and Health

Climate change is driving long-term change to our planet and creating direct and indirect effects that impact human life and health. Direct effects include the acute repercussions of more frequent and intense extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, which can result in mortality or injury.

Additionally, there are chronic impacts from long-term exposure to poor environment, notably air pollution, leading to a more sustained deterioration of health. The shifting climate also exacerbates other risk factors such as the spread of water-borne and vector-borne pathogens. Indirectly, climate change can contribute to community displacement and degradation of the environment, resulting in scarcity of food and water. Whilst projected impacts vary significantly based on the climate scenario one aligns with, what is clear, is that the time for societal action is now.

In the next instalment of our climate change webinar series, we will look at:

• The main drivers of climate change which affect life and health
• Exploring the how impacts may vary in the general and insured populations
• The factors insurers will need consider in order to maintain resilience in the face of this long-term, ambiguous, global challenge

Drawing on the findings of the recent Geneva Association report 'Climate Change: What does the future hold for health and life insurance', as well as our own Swiss Re Institute Report – 'The risk of a lifetime: mapping the impact of climate change on life and health risks', we look forward to an engaging discussion between our panellists, and through the interactive Q and A.