Baden-Baden
Reinsurers—and climate activists—meet again in Baden-Baden
Reinsurers who gathered in Baden-Baden last month were keen to reconnect in person after several years of operating virtually. Climate activists were also keen to connect with them, with COP27 just a few weeks away.
“There is absolutely no need to insure fossil projects.”
Susanne Egli, Extinction Rebellion
Almost 90 percent of respondents to an Intelligent Insurer survey sent out ahead of the Baden-Baden Reinsurance Meeting on October 23–26, indicated they were keen to connect with new people and seek new clients, while almost 80 percent said they wanted to reaffirm relationships with existing clients. Some of the other reasons for attending included negotiations for the year-end renewal and learning more about industry trends.
“It’s good to be back,” said one respondent. “There is nothing quite like an autumnal Baden-Baden, walking between hotels and meetings, negotiating and reaffirming friendships with old friends. I have missed the restaurants, but my peers and clients more. It will be a special meeting.”
It seemed that the talking points in those meetings could be varied. Inflation and capacity topped the list, but recent losses from Hurricane Ian were also top of mind and, perhaps because of this, so were terms and conditions and some of the challenges of growth the industry faces.
“The industry was already facing a capacity crunch; Hurricane Ian has just made things much worse,” said one respondent. “We are now looking at a much tougher negotiation as a result. Capacity has again retreated and new investors are nowhere in sight. Cedants will be leaning into their long-term relationships, but they will still be paying more with much higher deductibles.”
“Capacity has again retreated and new investors are nowhere in sight.”
Survey respondent
Softer issues
Some delegates indicated they expected to be discussing ‘softer’ issues, such as environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors and technology advances within the industry. During the long soft market, such topics were much more pertinent, and some bemoaned the fact that the pressing challenges of pricing and capacity are now distracting the industry from long-term goals.
“It is a shame that some of the soft issues are now off the agenda,” one said. “ESG is important and an opportunity for the industry to make a difference. No one wants to talk about that now. The agenda is far more urgent around filling programmes regardless of some of some of these softer, but critical, issues.”
Another added: “Insurtech has the potential to make a profound difference to the industry. I just hope some of the advances are not simply put on the back burner now that reinsurers are again making healthy profits from their core business.”
“It is a shame that some of the soft issues are now off the agenda.”
Survey respondent
Climate anger
The Baden-Baden Reinsurance Meeting was again targeted by protesters demanding that the industry stop insuring oil, coal and gas projects.
Activists from groups Extinction Rebellion and Debt4Climate targeted Kongresshaus during the event. Several activists climbed onto the canopy and displayed a banner with the demand “Stop (re)insuring Climate Chaos”.
Other activists glued themselves in front of the entrance doors. Posters were also taped to the glass facade.
The meeting in Baden-Baden has become a focus for such climate groups, with protests a regular occurrence before COVID-19 meant the event was cancelled for two years. In 2019, Greenpeace protestors set fire to a model house outside Kongresshaus and handed out leaflets detailing why they want reinsurers to make these changes.
For the most part, delegates were unaware of the protest; the activists were cleared by the time the majority of delegates arrived for morning meetings. Those who did witness the protest were nonplussed.
“People are free to protest, in a way it makes the event more exciting,” said one delegate. “I think there is a misunderstanding about the industry’s role in all this but that is the debate we need to have.”
Explaining the protest, Susanne Egli, marine biologist and climate activist at Extinction Rebellion, said: “The reinsurance industry is certainly aware of the clear need to stop fuelling the climate catastrophe with more fossil fuel projects. There is absolutely no need for the reinsurance industry to insure fossil projects, quite the opposite.”
She added: “Reinsurance even today means billions in climate disaster payouts. Even if the industry doesn’t want to exit the fossil fuel industry in times of climate catastrophe because of millions of lives, it should do so for purely economic reasons.”
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