Research: Climate number one concern among both UK risk experts and public
Majority of risk experts and the general public in the UK view climate change as number one threat facing society, ahead of pandemics and economic instability
Climate change has been ranked by UK risk experts and the British public alike as their number one concern for the next five to 10 years, with global warming more frequently cited as the leading threat than even pandemics, cyberthreats and geopolitical and economic instability.
That is the overrarching conclusion of research published this morning by insurance giant AXA, based on polling of more than 1,000 adults and 400 risk experts based in the UK.
The research, which was carried out in partnership with polling firm IPSOS and geopolitical analysis consultancity the Eurasia Group, found 64 per cent of UK-based risk experts view climate change as the highest risk facing society, while similarly six in 10 people surveyed also ranked it as their top societal threat.
Claudio Gienal, CEO of AXA UK and Ireland, said the research findings underscored the need for individuals, companies and the public sector to club together in order to tackle climate change.
“There is no doubt that climate change is one of the most serious and damaging risks we as a global population face, so it’s encouraging that this has been acknowledged as the number one risk in the UK,” he said. “We have a real opportunity here for everyone – governments, the private sector and individuals – to come together and work more closely to help mitigate the risks we face now and in the future.”
The UK findings are included in the latest edition of the insurance giant’s Future Risks Report, an annual study that measures changing perception of risks around the world.
The research suggests concern about climate risk in the UK are roughly in line with trends across Europe, with the majority of European citizens and experts also picking climate change as their number one risk from a list of 25 different options.
But it notes that while risk experts the world over broadly agree that climate change is the biggest risk facing society, the wider global public ranks the issue as the second most concerning risk, after pandemics and infectious diseases.
The global study, which surveyed 19,000 citizens and almost 3,500 experts from around the world, found that the vast majority of people believe governments are underprepared to tackle the challenge, with just one in five of experts saying they believed public authorities could mitigate the climate crisis, and only a third of the UK public agreeing that governments are well prepared.
Elsewhere, the report also points to a broad belief among the British public that globalisation can have a positive impact on curbing risk, as it may allow countries to unite to tackle issues more effectively. However, such findings set the UK apart from almost every other country in Europe apart from Switzerland, with the polling indicating more negative than positive feelings among the public about globalisation’s impact on risk.
Sean McGovern, CEO of UK and Lloyd’s market at Axa, said tthe findings showed that UK risk experts and the general public wanted the UK government to put climate action “front and centre” of its policy efforts and vision for the future.
Moreover, he said that London’s financial sector had a major role to play in leveraging its world-renowned risk expertise to tackle the climate crisis. “It has a dual role to play; both by supporting our clients and local communities in tackling the immediate impacts of climate change and – through the work being done within the London market and Lloyd’s – by helping to create climate resiliency around the world,” he said.
It follows the launch of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance in June, an industry group chaired by AXA that brings together some of the world’s largest insurance firms, including Allianz, Swiss Re, Aviva and Munich Re. All firms have pledged to align their underwriting activities with the 1.5C warming pathway set out by the Paris Agreement.
Gienal also stressed that the insurance industry as a whole had a critical role to play in driving progress towards net zero. “This is an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss,” he added. “Central to this is tackling the protection gap – the gap between economic and insured losses – and insuring the green transition as we move to a decarbonised world.”
