While I am finalising my presentation Climate Change: Elephant in the Boardroom! for the Insurance Law Association, I am equally engrossed in Raavan. The gripping fiction by Amish Tripathi, based on the Lankan king, devil incarnate in the Ramayana. With the story unfolding, I begin to believe that this Lord of evil is the polluter, pollutant and pollution – the unholy trinity! And that a single deviant can radically vitiate the overall climate.
To be the last speaker of the day calls for extra vitality both in terms of what you wish to present and how. Therefore, nothing like fortifying the narrative with real stories. Sometimes, what others tell you lends a whiff of oxygen. And sometimes what you have said something – somewhere else – gives a new context to your fresh explorations. Most interestingly it’s what an another might tell you without even having to ask, after you have delivered your story, that triggers a new insight.
How about the last thing first? So, at my presentation I seriously fret and fume about everything that is going wrong with our lovely Planet. Coal, the king of fossil fuel and blackest of them all, is at the very epicentre of the trouble! Once I am all done and settle down for an Uber ride home – I am wishing to cool down. Expecting it to be a quiet trip. However, the driver Rahul has other plans.
That he is from some place called Deoghar, by the Mayurakshi river, in Jharkhand is an inert input. Given my equally inert response – it is his turn to lace it up. ‘That’s where Raavan left behind the Shivalinga’ was something I was least expecting to come my way. He then tops it by saying how coal is abundant and virtually free around Deoghar. Not surprised by the fact that it is right in the heart of India’s coal belt. Not too far apart Jharia where fires have been raging for over 100 years, like uncontrolled demons, in the coal pits. Free and plentiful supply makes it a darling and an addiction. Leaves me wondering whether he can read my mind or was he present at the just concluded event, that evening?!
Late 2017 I ‘crystal ball gazed’, to write a blog on invitation from the CII (A leaf from the Chartered Insurance Institute Blog!), as to what lay in store for 2018. One trend that I talked about was the non-state players taking on the role of influencers. Emerging charisma of individuals was in mind too – particularly Sian Fisher (CEO of the CII) in context of her inspiring ‘HeForShe’ initiative. That was how far I could think at that point of time. Greta Thunberg was nowhere in sight. Perhaps just a fourteen year old then. Early last year at the Asianinvestor panel discussion on megatrends, in Hong Kong, the context of leadership evolved and I dared to say that ‘Post Millennials’ like Greta should be sitting on the boards of corporations. Howsoever, naïve it might still sound, the urgency to cut on our carbon footprint calls for Raavan-of-a-Climate-Crisis slayer like Greta.
With the rising sea level much of Mumbai will be under water by 2050 – I tell my friend quoting New York Times. This is before the local media breaks the story, a few days ahead of my presentation. I am surprised that he is not surprised and tells me what his late grandmother said. Lending more than a whiff of oxygen. The paternal grandma used to attend to the needs of a spiritual lady one Shantabai. Sometime between 1925 to 1941 – during her spiritual journey – the name Ramtanu was bestowed upon her. Shantabai visualised a great city emerging from the Sea, where Navi Mumbai stands today. More importantly, she also told the grandmother that in about 100 years the sea would claim the city back! In Turbhe (once a village), now a suburb of Navi Mumbai, stands a temple dedicated to Ramtanu that is believed to protect all its residents.
There are signals galore! Are we willing to be not distracted by the noise? Uncanny or uncanny not?!
Published in Business Standard on December 28, 2019: https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/the-crucial-role-of-banks-and-insurers-in-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-119122800822_1.html (Paywall)
2020 will not be yet another new year! With it commences the countdown to 2030 by when together we must all – individuals and businesses – work towards achieving the expectations set by the Paris Climate Agreement. Insurers have not only been generally slow in waking up to this challenge, but many continue to ‘aid and abet’ the Climate Crisis. The growing role of Asia in global economy, higher propensity to natural catastrophes and an aging society – makes it more vulnerable to Climate Crisis than any other geography.
As an inspiring leader, Sian Fisher, CEO, Chartered Insurance Institute, has demonstrated how the insurance industry can successfully lead the financial services in the Diversity & Inclusivity space. In this interview, Sian shares her vision on dealing with Climate Change, how some of the European players are already leading the way, a transitioning protocol to mitigate the carbon trail and some of the pathbreaking work undertaken by the Chartered Insurance Institute. (Also published on the CII blog).
PG: How could and should insurers and reinsurers influence businesses responsible for carbon emissions?
SF: There are four key ways in which insurers can influence carbon emissions:
Most importantly, insurers can help organisations look at risks in a holistic way, advising them on how they can manage climate risks and manage reputational, regulatory, legal, technological and physical risks. As a member of the organisation Climatewise, we have sponsored guidance on a ‘Transition Risk Framework’ for use by our members:
Second, during the underwriting process, insurers can look at the total risks of a project, including the potential reputational and regulatory risks of activities that result in high carbon emissions, and factor this into pricing. However, it is more effective to have a dialogue with clients before the underwriting process, either between the insurer and the client, or between the broker and the client, about managing the risk, rather than waiting for the pricing stage of the process, when decisions may have already been taken that may not be able to be reversed. We should also remember that pricing decisions can work in different ways. For example, timber-framed buildings are attractive from a carbon point of view, but can be more vulnerable to fire in the construction stages, and if they are not maintained properly. As always, it is important to look at all the risks of a project, and not just one aspect.
Third, insurers can approach the way they invest their funds in a way that is sustainable from a carbon point of view, as Zurich, Aviva and many other insurers have done:
https://www.aviva.com/social-purpose/responsible-investment/
Fourth, during the claims process, insurers can help repair and rebuild so that replacement structures are more carbon efficient.
PG: Increasingly, more and more European insurers and reinsurers are moving away from investing in fossil fuels. Would you expect this to be replicated globally?
SF: Yes, there are strong reasons for moving away from fossil fuels in terms of avoiding reputational or legal risks. In future, it is likely that governments will develop more financial incentives to encourage investment in and use of renewable energy rather than fossil fuels, so in the long term this does make sense.
PG: Do you see room for Climate Change as a standalone subject in insurance and risk management syllabi?
SF: Many people think of the CII and think of exams straight away, but people tend to take exams early in their career, and then look for a wider range on ongoing materials and training to keep their knowledge up to date. As a result, we would like to integrate climate change into many of our syllabi (as we already do, for example for investment advisers) and then offer tailored materials and CPD, such as the Transition Risk Framework to members. That way, we can reach all our members, and not only the ones that are in the exam phase of their professional development.
We would like to integrate climate change into many of our syllabi (as we already do, for example for investment advisers) and then offer tailored materials and CPD, such as the Transition Risk Framework to members.
PG: In your view, is there a role for insurers in transitioning societies towards a carbon neutral existence?
SF: Yes, insurers exist to help individuals, families and organisations to manage risk. Climate change is one of the biggest risks we face, so insurers naturally have a huge role to play in helping society manage it.
PG: Many thanks. Here is wishing you Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
Once-upon-a-time orchards of Powai, in Mumbai, are a concrete jungle now! These langurs (Semnopithecus) – original ‘denizens’ are becoming frequent visitors – who somehow manage to cross the busy JVLR (Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road) from wooded IIT Bombay. Like they did earlier today! Probably their kingdom extends from Aarey to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Not sure what is pushing them this way. Could it be encroachments, shrinking green cover, are they multiplying too fast? Food or fun? Unlike the leopards – perhaps both!
A short story resurfaces after nearly 25 years: ‘Reincarnated’ as a Cli-Fi!
The roaring thunder, lashing rains and strong gales that engulfed the Territory were as always labelled a typhoon. Bearing a name in the usual alphabetic order. Not one person in or around heard the invocation of Saa Yue – the great shark spirit, who for thousand of centuries had ruled the South China Sea. Ages before man set foot on the neighbouring lands. Today It was furious and venting out the steam that had been long building up. Here was a specie that they had looked upon very kindly. The human was now turning out to be not only a threat to the Saa Yue or the specie itself – but the entire planet.
The great spirit had witnessed a slow spread and steady multiplication of homo-sapiens along the coastlines. Like any other plant and creature, It philosophised, they too would eventually merge harmoniously in the grand design.
But adapt, It began to realise, was an understatement for this creation. The great one had seen evolution unfold ever since its own arrival. And was amused by the suggestion of marine life going overland and even becoming arboreal. To the arrival of the naked ape! He dressed up in no time. Initially depended largely on the vast expanse of water, for his food. Then discovered cultivation. Made fire. Came back to the sea with means for larger catches. Planks transformed into big and bigger boats. Never till then he dare dare a shark.
And how did the Saa Yue feel about being left out of the Noah’s Ark?
No big deal. We have survived the worst of deluges. We do not even see global warming as any real threat to us!
While the mastery of the waterways brought wars, piracy and worst forms of deceit, it also enabled the great seers and masters to travel to and fro.
We were one of the first to hear profound ideas and divine teachings before they could reach faraway lands. We guarded the vessels in this part of the world. Be it Fa Xian, Xuan Cang or St Francis Xavier and all those names that your world would never know. We were with them when the seas were rough and heavens harsh. Their test was ours.
What did we gain?
They heard with all humility, our confessions and anxieties.
Oh, great souls we prey on smaller creatures, we said.
Ah! They had a very reassuring reply. Ever heard of ‘matsyanyaya’? In short, the big fish eat the small fish. And thou are but a part of such a supreme will.
Thou art a martial class of the oceans. Kshatriya, Samurai, Mandarin – whatever thy may wish to call thyself.
Protect thy territories. Do not attack unless provoked. And do not kill meaninglessly.
The early fishermen set out to fish seeking blessings of Goddess Tin Hau. They worked hard and caught only as much as their needs. We admired the heroism of the hunter and hunted, in The Old Man And The Sea. The sharks were never known for Moby Dick kind of blubber. The greed of human harpoons was, therefore, first aimed at the poor whales.
The march of history took a devious turn. Man made deadlier fishing equipment, bigger ships, longer reach. Stronger armies and more unfortunate wars. The sailing boats were eventually fossil fuelled. Damaging the world around us. All we do after a meal is leave behind oxygen rich crimson red hue. We never came to understand the stealthy submarines. The nylon nets endanger our young and weak ones.
We often wonder – where are the great men who gave us the wisdom.
Is it true that they had become recluses on high mountains? Why?
We do not understand why men push the frontiers of land further and farther into the seas. Dumping rocks and concrete fill. Out pop more and more ‘termite hills. What also baffles is the term land shark! If that is an analogy to any of our 340 types – it is adding insult to injury.
You painted the snouts of your warplanes with our mock look alike. And Peter Benchley tainted us as the man-eater around the Amity Island, in his Universal Studio ‘Epic’. You all say; the only good shark is a dead shark. How ridiculous. You call us by all funny names; jagged toothed one, killing machines, Chondrichthyes et al. You overlook the majestic perfect grace of a shark in natural surroundings. Our bloody pictures outside water indeed look grotesque.
Your portrayal of us as a fierce uncontrolled force has only imprinted deep terror in human souls. More men get killed by your funny motor cars. More men kill men. And more sharks get attacked by men than men by sharks.
Do you think a P.R. firm could do us any good? We would certainly like to get rid of our worse than Godzilla image. Sharkie is a comic attempt, but not good enough. Maybe, something on lines of the Jungle Book or Pocahontas!
You hunt our brethren to go into your supper bowls as shark fin soup. Tell us, how would you feel if you were us. First be hunted. Then smell the putrefied remains of such soup dumped back into the seas. With all that continuous filthy discharge.
Aren’t we all here to live together?
Our martial sense possesses us. Your sight is a provocation to most of our breed. One shark attack and out pop your several beware signs. For every attack you plunge into the cyberspace to explore where and when was the last one reported. Your think tanks tinker hard for reasons. You hire mercenaries to liquidate us.
We share more secrets on your origins than Darwin could ever unravel. We know much more about you than what Cousteau or the likes could fathom about us.
Come on, said the mighty Saa Yue, as It whipped the waters of South China Sea.
From the strong sinuous movements rose big waves, winds and the froth. Enveloping the skies and lands around. And up went the number eight signal.
Give us a chance. We are sure you can survive and flourish without the soup. And prove your masculinity without having to kill us.
Come on, come on … .
Courtesy Dan Bloom@ https://northwardho.blogspot.com/2019/12/an-appeal-short-story-by-praveen-gupta.html
Published in I.VW-HSG Trendmonitor: Delighted to explore and co-author this facet of Climate Change with two eminent scholars!
Old & New: Walking past; looking up and occasionally down…
Hong Kong has been in the news of late for the ongoing civil unrest. One of the woes that unsettles many wishing to retain it as a long-term abode – is the price of property. The tall and sleek skyscrapers are not all that this erstwhile English colony is about. Hidden in pockets is the stark and growing poverty that too could be plotted on a graph like the tall towers which keep getting taller. The ‘One country, two systems’ expounded by Chairman Deng Xiao Ping and agreed to by Margaret Thatcher was certainly not about the socio-economic contrast that its population has today polarised into.
When I first arrived to work in Hong Kong during the early 1990s, I was told how easy it was to buy a car there but very expensive to rent or acquire a parking place. I was shocked by the rentals of what were known as ‘shoe box’ apartments. Most Hong Kongers lived in them as they continue to live now, if only they can afford them. Hong Kong’s average house size is 484 square feet and considering average household size of 2.9, an average Hong Konger lives in 161 square feet.
And an insight from Associated Press makes even this sound like a luxury. What it refers to as a dark side to the property boom in wealthy Hong Kong, where an estimated 200,000 people priced out of the market must live in ‘coffin homes’. They can be so small that a person cannot even fully stretch his or her legs!
“A dark side to the property boom in wealthy Hong Kong, where an estimated 200,000 people priced out of the market must live in ‘coffin homes’.
The rents of commercial properties at Central in Hong Kong island then were only second to the Ginza district of Tokyo. Newspaper reports would allude to the atrocious per square inch cost of keeping a waste-paper basket in some of the top marquee buildings in the location. The wares sold from fancy designer shops – were duly marked up on account of the prohibitive rents. The prices were good enough to shock visitors from the US. On the flip side, but on a positive note were stories of aspiring migrants from the Territory trading their tiny overpriced homes for large mansions in Canada or Australia, ahead of the 1997 handover.
Not surprisingly at the very root of the current discontent is the high cost of Hong Kong’s housing inequality. Many of those who have joined the protest movement seem to believe that democracy will address this! Ironically, not much has changed on this front since then – notwithstanding the change in the masters. Let’s unpeel further.
Hong Kong is largely dependent on traditional industries such as finance and real estate. These two sectors account for 70 percent of the economy. Much of its manufacturing steadily started moving to Shenzhen and beyond in the Guangdong province – to leverage the labour costs which once upon a time were a tenth of Hong Kong. In just a little over two decades Shenzhen has risen from a farming community and in 2018 raced ahead of Hong Kong’s GDP. 70 percent of its economy is derived from manufacturing and technology. The rapid rise of Shenzhen too is a cause of grief in Hong Kong. The insecurity amongst the residents is bound to get further heightened with the emergence of the Greater Bay Area with Macau SAR, Zhuhai and HK SAR into its fold.
Land sales account for 93% of the Hong Kong government’s capital revenues. It is aligned closely with the elite and vested interests – inherited from the colonial past.
Land sales account for 93% of the Hong Kong government’s capital revenues. It is aligned closely with the elite and vested interests – inherited from the colonial past. High housing prices is already causing serious limitations on the sustainability of Hong Kong’s growth. Unless the supply side is freed from clutches of the handful of builders the solution does not seem in sight.
Talking to cabbies during travels between Hong Kong and Singapore in my time – when these city states were ferocious tiger economies – two common ‘feedbacks’ on either side were – ‘Singapore is like a hospital’ and ‘Your Hong Kong people are very rude’! Thanks to a well-managed nursing of public housing the Lion City has thwarted a housing crisis, as of now. However, Hong Kong unfortunately remains in the eye of a rude storm.
The shifting of the airport from the Kai Tak in Kowloon to Chek Lap Kok in the Lantau island – was supposed to boost Hong Kong’s fengshui in terms of a westward property development of the Special Administrative Region. What will eventually calm the frayed nerves of the residents – a dose of freedom alone or a nudge from the big brother to make housing more affordable and plentiful to the common man, or both? Surely some learning for a rapidly urbanising India where housing must remain affordable.
Peter Bosshard is a Swiss native who resides in California and works for The Sunrise Project – an Australian non-profit with significant global impact. Their mission is to support social movements in scaling up the transition beyond fossil fuels as fast as possible. They are a team of experienced advocates, analysts and communicators who are driven by a passion to solve the climate crisis. As part of their work they coordinate international campaigns to convince the insurance industry, asset managers and other actors to accelerate the low-carbon transition.
Praveen Gupta: How does one transition the insurance industry and other investors from fossil fuel to clean energy? Particularly as it entails lifestyle change for every individual.
As a first step, insurers should stop covering and investing in the coal sector and should expand their services for renewable energy projects instead.
Peter Bosshard: Acting for a safer and healthier society is nothing new for the insurance industry. Insurance companies have established fire departments, prepared building codes, and created incentives for people to quit smoking. The climate crisis is the greatest threat which humanity has ever faced, and the insurance industry needs to play a leading role in addressing it. As a first step, insurers should stop covering and investing in the coal sector and should expand their services for renewable energy projects instead.
PG: The insurance industry is conditioned as a handmaiden of a larger industry which is deeply steeped into fossil fuels. How do you extricate it from this industrial age mindset?
PB: The renewable energy sector is rapidly out-competing the coal industry, with the latest solar tariffs in India for example 20-30% lower than average coal-fired power tariffs. Even so, old habits die hard and intellectual inertia as well as political patronage – the “power of incumbency” – are still extending the coal industry’s lease of life. Forward-looking insurance leaders need to understand that climate change will bring massive disruptions to our economies and societies, and they need to position their companies for a low-carbon future. Outside pressures can help with this process: In Europe, Australia and the US, protesters are blockading the offices of coal insurers, insurance clients are asking for coal-free carriers, and risk management students are making it clear that they don’t want to work for employers which underwrite climate destruction.
Forward-looking insurance leaders need to understand that climate change will bring massive disruptions to our economies and societies, and they need to position their companies for a low-carbon future.
PG: Is there a risk of some insurers and investors taking a pro-climate posture only as a matter of positioning? In the process running with the hares and hunting with the hounds?
PB: This risk always exists, particularly in an industry that is not transparent about who is underwriting what. However, a lot of insurance professionals agree with the need to accelerate the low-carbon transition and have started sharing information about climate-destroying deals with campaign groups. Saying one thing and doing another is a risky proposition for companies with well-established public brands today.
PG: Transitioning calls for proselytising each stakeholder. Insurers generally do not seem to have a good track record of saying a ‘No’ and taking a principled stand. Where and how do you begin?
PB: Like most other businesses insurance companies indeed don’t like to take a principled stance. Yet as the climate crisis turns into an emergency. Insurers have had to learn that all actors in society are expected to act in line with international climate goals today. In the last two and a half years, 17 international insurance companies – including the world’s biggest primary insurers and reinsurers – have stopped or limited insuring coal, and more than 30 have divested their assets from the coal industry. Close to 60 insurers and other financial institutions have for example ruled out getting involved in the Adani Group’s giant Carmichael coal mine in Australia – a project which has become a global test case for responsible insurance.
In the last two and a half years, 17 international insurance companies – including the world’s biggest primary insurers and reinsurers – have stopped or limited insuring coal, and more than 30 have divested their assets from the coal industry.
PG: To what extent do you believe does the fixation with quarterly performance and short-termism come in the way?
PB: Short-termism is a big challenge for insurers as well as other business sectors. Pension funds and other big institutional shareholders need to take a longer-term view. They need to realise that it isn’t in the interest of their members and investors to maximise quarterly returns by sacrificing a livable future.
PG: Car sales in India have seriously slumped after several years of a dream run. On the flip side should this not be a blessing for our environment given the alarming state of air pollution. Moreover, an opportunity to kickstart a sustainable mobility solution?
PB: The internal combustion engine originally brought convenience but nowadays is choking our cities, our air and our climate. The future of the car is the electric vehicle, and this revolution will happen more quickly than most people expect. Yet city planners also need to realise that everyone’s quality of life improves if you don’t need cars to get around.
PG: My best wishes – to you Peter – in all your endeavours towards decarbonising our industry.
The Diversity Blog 