PLEA Network

22 January 2019, BusinessGree, Extreme weather cost global economy $215bn in 2018, AON estimates. Global cost of extreme weather last year higher than previous estimates, making 2017-18 costliest two-year period on record. The global economic costs of extreme weather hit $215bn after the planet was battered by hundreds of cyclones, floods, and wildfires last year, insurance giant Aon has estimated, further fueling concerns over the impact of increasing weather volatility in a changing climate. The figure is significantly higher than that estimated just last week by rival insurer Munich Re, which set the bill for extreme weather in 2018 at $160bn. The results mean 2017-18 was the costliest two-year period on record for extreme weather disasters at $653bn, according to Aon. Moreover, when natural disasters such as earthquakes are added to the mix, the 2018 figure rises to $235bn after 394 individual natural catastrophe events, calculates Aon’s ‘Weather, Climate & Catastrophe Insight 2018’ report, which was published today. Of the total $225bn in economic losses from natural disasters last year, private sector and government sponsored insurance programmes covered $90bn, meaning the protection gap – losses not covered by insurance – reached 60 per cent, which is the lowest level since 2005, the report said. Andy Marcell, CEO of Aon’s reinsurance solutions business, said 2018 was “another active year for natural disasters”. Read more here