Insurance companies & climate change: Interview with Mark Trexler
Illuminem
October 2, 2024
My blog interview also published here:
Talking to the inimitable Dr. Mark Trexler is always a pleasure.
If you do wish to indulge in some ‘Trexlerian’ wit in the Time of #ClimateBreakdown, this is what you will surely find here:
Tells me why all students at Arizona State University, beginning this fall, must take a class on sustainability – “is a great initiative, although seems radically insufficient and decades too late in coming!’’
Recognises: “Systems thinking is a prerequisite to solving problems, but is far from the solution”.
The role of Milton Friedman (and Ayn Rand) in landing us where we are today.
“An obvious contradiction between focusing on shareholder returns while promoting voluntary pursuit of ESG”.
“Why would we expect insurers (or any company) to really prioritize double materiality?”
That insurers “are probably one of the most resilient sectors to physical climate risks, and they’ll make money as other risks get worse as well”.
And: “If we prohibited insurance companies from rapidly increasing premiums, or dropping lots of policies, in principle we would incentivize them to take climate change more seriously”.
The Diversity Blog 