Publications

Can insurance catalyse government planning on climate? Emergent evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Research article by Swenja Surminski, Jon Barnes, Katharine Vincent on 22 Feb 2022

This paper explores how climate risk information produced in the context of insurance-related activities can support public climate adaptation planning. The central contribution is to outline how relevant climate risk information can translate into behaviour change, and the drivers and barriers that influence this in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Climate and disaster risk insurance in low income countries: Reflections on the importance of indicators and frameworks for monitoring performance and impact

Working paper by Architesh Panda, Swenja Surminski on 7 Sep 2020

How to effectively monitor and evaluate the use of climate and disaster risk insurance remains unclear. This paper reviews how these instruments are currently evaluated and finds a need for transparent monitoring and evaluation frameworks to enable greater scrutiny and to assist those funding, demanding or supplying insurance, with evidence from India and Africa.

Should Flood Re be extended to SMEs?

Policy publication by Paola Sakai on 16 Jun 2020

This new study from the UK flood affected areas looks at the economic costs of flooding on SMEs and proposes ways to increase their flood protection.

Insurance and financial services across developing countries: an empirical study of coverage and demand

Working paper by Architesh Panda, Peter Lambert, Swenja Surminski on 8 Apr 2020

Analysing household data from 16 developing countries across Asia and Africa, this paper examines the landscape of access to and sources of financial services. The results shed new light on how insurance uptake could be increased through more tailored and targeted products and services that are designed to meet local needs and requirements in the face of climate and other shocks. read more »

Submission to Call for Evidence on Flooding and Coastal Erosion by Defra

Policy publication by Swenja Surminski, Viktor Rözer, Sara Mehryar, Rebecca Byrnes on 9 Oct 2019

This paper summarises the Institute’s submission to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ call for evidence on policy direction to prepare the UK for flooding and coastal erosion, drawing on a decade of work by the Grantham Research Institute with the insurance industry and policymakers addressing issues around climate change and adaptation. read more »

Insurance as a catalyst for using climate risk information for government planning and decision-making: A framework for analysing drivers and barriers, tested against evidence emerging from Sub-Saharan Africa

Working paper by Swenja Surminski, Jon Barnes, Katharine Vincent on 8 Oct 2019

This paper from the UMFULA programme investigates the potential catalyst role of insurance in adaptation to climate change in a developing country context that is characterised by low insurance penetration and a relatively low level of government planning, analysing the problem from the perspective of insurers in South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania. read more »

Disaster insurance in developing Asia: An analysis of market-based schemes

Policy publication by Swenja Surminski, Architesh Panda on 1 Oct 2019

This working paper analyzes the status, types, and evolution of market-based disaster insurance schemes across developing Asia. Well-designed insurance schemes can play an important role in increasing resilience to climate … read more »

Pricing ambiguity in catastrophe risk insurance

Working paper by Simon Dietz, Falk Niehörster on 23 May 2019

The authors of this paper apply a newly developed insurance pricing model to two catastrophe model data sets relating to hurricane risk in two locations in the Atlantic basin, estimating ambiguity loads – the extra insurance premium due to ambiguity – and showing how these depend on the insurer’s attitude to ambiguity. read more »

The risk of climate ruin

Working paper by Oliver Bettis, Simon Dietz, Nick Silver on 17 Nov 2015

How large a risk is society prepared to run with the climate system? One perspective on this is to compare the risk that the world is running with the climate … read more »

Novel and improved insurance instruments for risk reduction

Working paper by Swenja Surminski, Florence Crick, Jillian Eldridge, Paul Hudson, Jeroen Aerts, Wouter Botzen, Jaroslav Mysiak, Carlos Dionisio Pérez-Blanco, Francisco Rego, Robin Nicolai, Carlos Neto, Reinhard Mechler, António Macedo, Anna Lorant, Conceição Colaço on 30 Mar 2015

In the context of natural disaster insurance and risk reduction this paper looks at how to assess existing insurance offerings and how to design new schemes. read more »