Lloyd's Chairman Peter Levene discussed global warming and other insurance industry topics with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a meeting in Sacramento last week, a Lloyd's spokesperson said.
Lord Levene, who left the Risk and Insurance Management Society conference here to meet with Gov. Schwarzenegger, discussed a range of topics including climate change, the U.S. requirement that foreign reinsurers post collateral, and comparable economic development between East and West, the spokesperson told National Underwriter.
Lord Levene told NU a day before meeting with the governor, “Lloyd's has business of more than $1 billion in California, which is more than our total business in France and Germany. So apart from the fact that the United States makes up 40 percent of our worldwide business, California on its own is a hugely important market, is as…is Texas.”
“To go and see the governor, who is responsible for running the state, in what is in its own right one of the largest markets in the world, is a very good opportunity for us,” he said.
He added, “I know [Gov. Schwarzenegger] is very passionate about global warming, and global warming and climate change [are] very important [topics] to us at Lloyd's. So it will be a good opportunity to talk through some of those issues.”
Lloyd's spokesperson said, “The governor and Lord Levene had a very good meeting. The governor was keen to hear what initiatives the insurance industry is undertaking to combat climate change, particularly the ClimateWise Principles. He was interested to discuss further how the State of California could work with Lloyd's going forward.”
According to Lloyd's, the ClimateWise principles provide a framework for insurance companies globally to establish how they will build climate change into their business operations.
The principles were developed following consultation between The Prince of Wales's Business & the Environment Program, Lloyd's, and other insurance market participants.
Companies that sign up agree to adhere to the following principles:
o To lead in risk analysis, or support and undertake research on climate change.
o To inform public policy making.
o To support climate awareness among their customers.
o To incorporate climate change into their investment strategies.
o To reduce the environmental impact of their business.
o To report and be accountable.
Lord Levene told NU, “The most important thing is to get people's attention and get them to understand this is something they need to deal with, without knee-jerk reactions.”
Global warming “is there. We know it's a problem. The experts will argue about how big a problem it is and how much damage it's going to cause.”
He added, “You can make things change and every little bit helps.”
Lloyd's said it will develop some proposals and meet again with the governor in a few months time.
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