16 April 2013

European Commission: Strengthening Europe's preparedness against natural and man-made disasters

Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said: “Natural and man-made catastrophes are on the rise, while the capacity of the insurance sector to insure against them is not fully utilised. European-level solutions to bridge the insurance gap need to be explored, along with common means of prevention and ways of raising awareness among citizens and companies. This Green Paper launches an important debate on the issues and will also allow us to get a more complete overview of the situation in different Member States.”

Strategy focuses on three key objectives:

• Promoting action by Member States: The Commission will encourage all Member States to adopt comprehensive adaptation strategies (currently 15 have strategies) and will provide funding to help them build up their adaptation capacities and take action. It will also support adaptation in cities by launching a voluntary commitment based on the Covenant of Mayors initiative.
• 'Climate-proofing' action at EU level by further promoting adaptation in key vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and cohesion policy, ensuring that Europe's infrastructure is made more resilient, and promoting the use of insurance against natural and man-made disasters.
• Better informed decision-making by addressing gaps in knowledge about adaptation and further developing the European climate adaptation platform (Climate-ADAPT) as the 'one-stop shop' for adaptation information in Europe.

The strategy puts strong emphasis on adaptation options that are low-cost, good for the economy as well as the climate, and which make sense for a variety of reasons. It will promote sustainable growth, stimulate climate-resilient investment and create new jobs, particularly in sectors such as construction, water management, insurance, agricultural technologies and ecosystem management.

Estimates of future costs and benefits indicate that each euro spent on flood protection could save six euros in damage costs. Floods killed more than 2,500 people, affected more than 5.5 million and caused direct economic losses of more than €90 billion over the period 1980-2011. The minimum cost of not adapting to climate change is estimated at €100 billion a year in 2020 and €250 billion in 2050 for the whole EU.

The Green Paper poses a number of questions concerning the adequacy and availability of appropriate disaster insurance. The objective is to raise awareness and to assess whether or not action at EU level could be appropriate or warranted to improve the market for disaster insurance in the European Union. More generally, this process will also expand the knowledge base, help to promote insurance as a tool of disaster management and thus contribute to a shift towards a general culture of disaster risk prevention and mitigation.

The Communication setting out the adaptation strategy is addressed to the other EU institutions for their responses. The Commission will hold a stakeholder conference on the strategy on 29 April in Brussels.

The Green Paper public consultation is open until 30 June, 2013. Once the Commission has examined the responses received, it will decide on the most appropriate follow-up, which could take several forms, legislative and non-legislative.

Press release

Green Paper

In a statement on 17th April, entitled 'Disaster management: preparedness & prevention are key', Insurance Europe said: "With large-scale disasters continually affecting economic stability and growth in Europe, Insurance Europe welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to focus attention on the role of insurance in disaster risk management through yesterday’s Green Paper on the insurance of natural and man-made disasters.

© European Commission