As of November 1, the NOAA reports there have been 24 weather events with losses exceeding $1 billion each this year in the United States – this isn’t far behind the record set in 2023 of 28 billion-dollar disasters. Of course, an increase in natural disasters is not a problem unique to the U.S., and countries across the globe have begun pushing back against climate change in order to mitigate these events.

Part of this pushback has been an increase in the implementation of ESG in business.

ESG stands for Environment Social Governance and refers to a set of standards and guidelines that seek to hold companies accountable for the impact they make on the world around them through their practices. Compliance with these regulations is meant to ensure that companies are doing what they claim when it comes to maintaining sustainable business practices.

Actual regulations aside, modern customers are more aware of environmental issues and many are shopping more consciously. A solid ESG plan can make companies more appealing to these discerning consumers. However, this growing interest in companies’ sustainability practices has led some companies to portray their products or services to the public in a way that some could view as misleading.

This has led to concerns for company executives who are looking to cover all of their bases when it comes to the defense of their practices, and it has also complicated the way these companies must examine their insurance coverages.

For this episode of Insurance Speak, we were joined by Carolyn Rosenberg, partner of the Insurance Recovery Group at Reed Smith, to discuss how these kinds of claims have changed and how businesses can ensure they’re protected with the right insurance.

Listen to our full epsiode with Rosenberg above, or subscribe to Insurance Speak on Spotify, Apple Music or Libsyn.

Related:

• 5 Steps business leaders can take to shore up insurance exposures
• Three key sustainability themes for U.S. insurance companies
• The insurance response to ESG pressure in 2024