Will Climate Change Become Uninsurable? This is now being warned by Norbert Rollinger, CEO of R+V Insurance.

Over the holidays, heavy rain and flooding occurred in several regions of Germany. Flooded basements were still the least of the problems. The images of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley from about two and a half years ago have been burned into the collective memory. More than 100 people lost their lives, and tens of thousands of others were left with the ruins of their existence.

After the flood disaster: Rebuilding in the same location? The otherwise peaceful Ahr, in some places more of a stream than a river, had carried away entire villages, destroyed homes and businesses. The force of the water caught many in the region by surprise, and numerous affected individuals were not insured against flood damage. The federal government stepped in with millions in aid, which is still flowing into the affected regions.

Already at that time, there were calls for mandatory insurance for buildings near bodies of water. However, this will likely become even more difficult in the future, as R+V CEO Rollinger points out. He is deeply concerned about the rebuilding of the villages along the river, in the same location – with the same, if not increasing, risk.

Climate researchers warn: Extreme weather will become more likely, frequent, and severe Because climate change is already in full swing. Extreme weather events are becoming more likely, frequent, and severe. According to researchers, every tenth of a degree of additional warming will have catastrophic consequences. Floods, heatwaves, wildfires, or drought periods will occur even in regions that have had little to do with natural disasters in the past.

Without appropriate adaptations and precautions – such as minimum distances from newly built buildings to potential flood areas – insurance premiums are likely to double in the coming years, according to Rollinger’s assessment. If insurance is even still offered: In the past, the R+V CEO and other high-ranking insurance managers have warned that with a 3 or 4 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures, the risks would become so unpredictable and expensive that it would no longer be economically feasible to purchase building insurance.

Islands sinking – a capital city moving The politically agreed-upon goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels becomes less and less realistic every year. Even though much is being done in terms of climate protection in Europe and even the much-criticized China is making significant efforts to improve its own climate balance – overall, not enough is being done, and it is still happening too slowly.

The overheating of the planet will have catastrophic consequences for humanity. Large parts of the world will become uninhabitable due to heat, and today’s island paradises will no longer exist in just a few decades. They will be swallowed by the rising sea level.

Just get away from the water The Indonesian capital of Jakarta is already attracting tourists with the cynically sounding slogan to visit the city while it still exists. The city is sinking into the sea, and the country is gradually relocating its capital to an area that is higher above sea level.

Further away from the threatening water, this is probably what insurance executives would also wish for when looking at Germany’s flood regions, which are now being rebuilt. However, as long as the villages and communities are being rebuilt in the same location, there is still little hope for protection through building insurance.