Climate and Insurance.org | takefive with Christopher Ryan

Christopher Ryan is chief executive of the Insurance Council of New Zealand, a position he has held for the past seven years.

During that time, Ryan has been involved in the creation of the new accident insurance market, government lobbying and a wide range of issues relating to insurance industry regulation, reputation and education. He is also familiar with risk management and international insurance issues relating to both domestic and commercial insurance.

Ryan is a past president of the New Zealand chapter of The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) and recently completed a term as an ANZIIF board member.

Takefive:
Mr. Ryan, can you briefly describe your organization, the Insurance Council of New Zealand, and tells us about the composition of your membership?

Christopher Ryan:
The Insurance Council of New Zealand represents about 95 percent of the insurance industry in New Zealand by way of premiums. It also represents the international reinsurers working in New Zealand on general insurance.

The Insurance Council is a very forward-looking organization. It works with New Zealand Government, local authorities and the industry on ways of promoting the use of insurance to create a better way of life and a better society for all New Zealanders.

While we have a role in assisting our members on technical issues, the key focus of the Insurance Council is presenting insurance solutions to some of the issues now challenging New Zealand in both an economic and social sense.

Clearly climate change is a major issue for New Zealand. New Zealand is a small country at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by sea, and consisting of three relatively small islands.

Climate change is impacting on our country in the way that it is in many other parts of the world, and the Insurance Council has now positioned itself as a leading non-aligned commentator on the impacts of climate change and some of the things that New Zealand needs to do as a society to cope with the challenges that climate change brings.

Takefive:
Since 2005, ICNZ appears to have been actively engaged in the climate change issue. Can you tell us about some of the steps that your organization has taken in this regard?

Christopher Ryan:
For some years now the Insurance Council has been very vocal in a political, media, and social sense, in identifying climate change as a key increase in risk for New Zealanders.

We have built strong relationships with organizations as diverse as our business-orientated industry associations, banks and insurance companies, local authorities, and international lobby groups, or non-government organizations, like Greenpeace.

Where we have commonalities we seek them, where we have insurance-based opinions on risks we present them, looking for allies in raising the issue of climate change as a new consideration for the 21st century.

The Insurance Council has not engaged in the causes of climate change. We do not have a position on whether this is driven by man-made influences, whether it is a natural phenomenon, or whether it is influenced by other factors. The key position that the Insurance Council takes is that statistical data indicate that climate change is occurring, and the results of that climate change will require reassessment of thinking and activities for all New Zealanders.

Takefive:
ICNZ appears to be concerned that many of your country’s property owners are under-insured and the fact that affordability and availability of insurance are becoming real issues in certain portions of your country. How is your organization addressing these issues?

Christopher Ryan:
The Insurance Council is concerned about under-insurance because we see insurance as a key solution, not only for the insurance industry, but also for the entire country in coping with the impact of climate change.

Insurance is a private sector solution that enables people to rebuild their lives after the effects of storms, floods, landslips, sea erosion, or other factors relating to climate change.

Raising awareness of risk we hope will promote better insurance. It will also increasingly identify the insurance industry as a solution for some of the problems facing New Zealand as a nation by not only creating a private sector solution, but also assisting the State sector in recovering after catastrophes or weather-related incidents.

Takefive:
ICNZ recently sponsored a two-day conference in Auckland that brought together governmental officials, scientists and insurance industry professionals “to better develop and manage a structured and collaborative approach to managing natural hazards, reducing the impact of coastal natural disasters and accelerating business recovery and economic well-being following a natural disaster.” Can you recap the highlights of the conference and where you see ICNZ going next on this issue?

Christopher Ryan:
This was an enormously successful conference, in that it brought together the key drivers in finding solutions for climate change impacts in New Zealand.

We brought together the academics, the local authorities, and the insurance companies. The Government also provided a Minister of the Crown to address the conference. What came out of the conference was an awareness of the reality of climate change and a greater understanding of the roles played by different recovery agencies.

The resulting publicity of the conference means that many New Zealanders now are increasingly aware of the things they must do to reduce the risks they face, both in their personal lives and also in their business lives, as a consequence of climate change.

Takefive:
Finally, Mr. Ryan, what advice, if any, do you have for insurance organizations like yours in other parts of the world and what they could do to become more engaged in the climate change issue?

Christopher Ryan:
It is my very firm view that the insurance industry is one of the most critical players in finding a way through the challenges of climate change. The insurance industry is non-political, bases its opinions and positions on factual data, is willing to work with governments as well as private citizens, and is seen as a highly reputable professional industry that specializes in identifying risk and reducing it if possible.

Around the world many reinsurance companies and major insurance companies have quietly been at the fore-front of global attempts to address the issue of climate change. It is the view of the insurance industry in New Zealand that the Insurance Council should be at the very fore-front of unbiased, pragmatic fact-based dialogue about the way that the New Zealand economy and society should act to cope with the changes being brought by climate change.

My advice to any insurance organization is to see itself as a critically important voice in the international debate on climate change. The organization’s opinion, fact-based and constructive, will drive the debate in whatever direction it should go to ensure we have a long-lasting solution to climate change and a better future for us all.