Nature and Biodiversity

The economy or the climate? It’s not a choice

David Cole

What concerns me the most about risk is that 10 years from now, we’ll look back and say: “We knew, and we didn’t do enough” or “we didn’t do what we could have done”.

Coping with the economic and climate change crises is unfortunately no longer seen as a continuum, but as opposing choices. There’s an idea out there that somehow we can’t have both. We need to go beyond this thinking in boxes. Since smart risk management is about taking a holistic approach to situations, we should do the same when it comes to the economic and climate change challenges we’re facing.

Adaptation measures should be part of a country’s blueprint for the future if is to bounce back quickly following an extreme weather event. This is vital because the insurability of all climate-related risks depends as much on social, environmental and urban planning as it does on physical defences and disaster preparedness.

The challenges of climate adaptation are particularly pressing in the developing world (although not only there as Hurricane Sandy has shown). In developing countries especially, partnerships between the global insurance industry, public-sector institutions and civil society are vital to unlock innovation and create new investment opportunities. Public-private collaboration would help make available more funding for adaptation at a time when it is more urgently needed than ever.

Going back to whether we can address both climate change risks and the economy at the same time, I believe we not only could, but should.  We can already do a great deal through proper risk planning and adaptation measures – things that could help save lives, spur economic activity and protect government budgets.

Author: David Cole is Chief Risk Officer at Swiss Re, a partner of the Global Risks 2013 report.

Image: A roller coaster restrs in the ocean after the boardwalk it was built upon collapsed during Hurricane Sandy REUTERS/Andrew Burton

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Future of the Environment

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Future of the Environment is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

How Japan can lead in forest mapping to maximize climate change mitigation

Naoko Tochibayashi and Mizuho Ota

November 12, 2024

The elephant in the room: 5 ways to reconcile conservation and development in the Congo Basin

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum