Businesses urged to "wake up to threat of climate change"

Following the release of the highly awaited British government report warning that global warming could have a disastrous effect on the world's economy, shrinking it by 20%, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has warned businesses to “wake up the very real threat of climate change”.

The warning comes after it was revealed by the respected economist Sir Nicolas Stern that tackling the problem now would require 1% of global gross domestic product.

BIBA is concerned that too many businesses in the UK, particularly small and medium sized operations, are failing to plan for the impact of climate change.

Climate change experts have consistently warned that Britain faces hotter, drier summers; milder, wetter winters; and an increasingly intensive frequency of extreme weather conditions.

As a result, an increasing number and severity of insurance claims is expected from UK businesses following flood, subsidence and storm damage.

Yet far too few businesses are taking action to prepare and insure for such changes.

Commenting, Steve Foulsham, Technical Services Officer at BIBA, said: “It is absolutely vital that businesses wake up to the very real threat of climate change, particularly from flooding at this time of year.

“There can be no excuse for ignoring what the experts are saying.

“I strongly urge all businesses to get ‘climate change wise’ and to speak to their insurance broker as a matter of urgency. Take sensible steps to protect your business and employees, and to properly insure yourself so you are covered should the worst happen.”

All businesses, via their insurance brokers, need to be prepared by adapting their risk management procedures and business resilience plans now.

For instance, some quick tips that businesses should consider include:

• Regularly testing their Business Continuity plan to ensure it will operate in the event of a disaster
• Ensuring business stock is not stored directly on the floor but raised at least 6 inches onto racking or pallets (to combat flooding)
• Discussing the adequacy of sums insured and extent of insurance cover with their broker
• Moving IT Servers from ground floor to a first floor location where appropriate (to combat flooding)
• Engaging with regional climate change groups to provide access to expertise

Coversure Insurance Services are members of the British Insurance Brokers Association – www.biba.org.uk, this news article is reproduced here with their kind permission.