Scan the headlines, and you’ll see the same climate-related story again and again.
It’s the “uninsurability crisis”.
This claims that America’s insurance market is cracking under the weight of climate change. Premiums are soaring. Major carriers are pulling out of California, Florida, and other high-risk states. Homeowners who’ve lived in the same place for decades suddenly can’t afford — or can’t find — coverage.
And yet, paradoxically, the industry itself is still turning a profit.
So who is this crisis really for?
Kate Stein, Insurance Director at EDF+Business, has spent her career at the intersection of climate, insurance, and advocacy. In this episode, she explains why “uninsurability” is a crisis for policyholders long before it becomes a crisis for insurers — and what that distinction means for how we respond.
She also makes the case for a much more ambitious vision of what insurance could do, and how innovation — and greater collaboration with policyholders, developers, and banks — could save it from a climate death spiral.
For anyone grappling with what “uninsurability” really means, and how the industry could respond to climate-related stressors, this episode is for you.
Listen below, download from the Podcasts page on Climate Proof, or tune in via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
🎙️This Podcast Is Free…But Making It Sure Isn’t!
First-time listeners and old hands alike will recognize something odd about this podcast.
That’s right, it’s not stuffed with random ads.
As an avid podcast listener myself, I know how frustrating it is trying to follow an interview that’s interrupted three, four, five times or more by annoying programmatic ads. It’s why I don’t allow them in Climate Proofers.
All our revenue is instead provided by paying members and sponsors. It’s their dollars that keep us going, and keep the ads at bay.
If you value ad-free content, and want to support Climate Proof, the number one thing you can do today is become a paying member. So don’t hesitate — smash that upgrade button now.
Oh, and paying members get access to episode transcripts, too!
We talk about:
👉 Why climate change is driving up premiums and pushing major insurers out of vulnerable markets, and why the pain is landing hardest on homeowners, not the industry itself
👉 The regulatory and housing development drivers of the uninsurability crisis
👉 The innovative risk transfer solutions that could make a difference
👉 How the insurance and banking industries intersect, and what the uninsurability crisis bodes for mortgage lenders
👉 The role of the public sector — lessons from Spain’s Consorcio and other national risk pools
Thanks for listening!
Louie Woodall
Editor
