What can cities do to increase resilience?

Abstract

This paper examines climate change mitigation and adaptation from an insurance industry perspective, with particular reference to London and the USA. It illustrates how British insurers are increasingly shaping public policy and using new technology to manage the risks from climate change impacts and makes a plea for society to make more use of insurance expertise in future decision making. In particular, more dialogue is needed between architects, planners and insurers to adapt our buildings and cities for climate change impacts. The paper is an abbreviated and updated version of the paper presented by the author in Houston, Texas, in 2005. 1. Explanatory note: Great Britain Great Britain is a collection of over 400 islands off the coast of the continent of Europe. According to the CIA website, it is about the size of the State of Oregon in the USA. Despite its size, it is the fourth largest economy in the world. Some of the examples in this paper relate to insurance activities in Great Britain (GB), and it may be useful to explain that Britain is made up of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland together with the Principality of Wales. Therefore, it is wrong therefore to say 'England' when referring to Britain as a whole. Indeed, Scotland accounts for 40% of the land area of Britain and 9% of the population. One county in Scotland is bigger than Belgium, while another has a longer coastline than France. Scotland has its own established church, and separate legal and educational systems. It also has its own banknotes and language (Gaelic) although this is spoken only by a minority. The Shetland Islands, while within Scotland politically, have a separate legal system and language, and a measure of local autonomy. Since devolution in April 1999, Scotland has had its own elected parliament, which has legislative powers over internal affairs. Wales has its own language, church and elected assembly, but this has no legislative powers so in terms of legal and political organization that is similar to England. For some of the issues considered below, it is necessary to distinguish between England and Wales on the one hand and Scotland on the other, because

Introduction. Climate change and urban areas: research dialogue in a policy framework

“…steel walls in Prague, the Thames Barrier and floating houses in The Netherlands (Stelling 2006). Crichton's (2007) paper focuses on the policy framework for dealing with flooding, especially in urban areas. He notes that owing to its huge financial liabilities, the global insurance industry, which is three times larger than the global oil industry, has had to establish reliable measures of risk.…”

“…He notes that owing to its huge financial liabilities, the global insurance industry, which is three times larger than the global oil industry, has had to establish reliable measures of risk. Crichton (2007) himself has designed the Risk Triangle, a framework for adaptation and modelling, which takes into consideration the relative importance in any given type of naturally caused risk of the natural hazard, the vulnerability of people and property and their exposure to risk in their actual situation. For example, 93% of homeowners in the UK have private insurance cover including flood.…”

Metodologia oceny ryzyka powodziowego gmin województwa łódzkiego

“…Współdziałanie tych trzech elementów tworzy tzw. trójkąt ryzyka ( Crichton 1999( Crichton , 2007. Charakter, rodzaj oraz wartość istniejącego stanu zagospodarowania na terenach zagrożonych powodziami decydują o wielkości szkód, które mogą wystąpić w postaci uszkodzeń lub zniszczeń obiektów w wyniku zalania ( Chojnacki 2000 ).…”

Role of Insurance in Reducing Flood Risk

“…22 Garvin has demonstrated 23 how flood damage can be reduced by using more resilient building materials. 20 Crichton (2007a). 21 Black and Evans (1999).…”