Sponsored content: Tim Charters, climate tech industry practice leader at Chubb, explains how the insurer’s climate practice is keeping pace with development
Governments, companies and consumers across the world are increasingly taking steps to address the threat and impact of climate change.
Investment into the space continues to grow at a rapid pace, with government data showing public electric vehicle charge point numbers growing at 33% per year.
This growth needs to be accompanied by a dynamic response from the insurance sector.
Climate tech
A thriving, dynamic sector, climate technology covers a broad range of climate related organisations that develop products, technologies and services.
The sector’s core focus is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to adapt to an altered environment or address the impact of climate change.
This might include companies developing new battery technologies, manufacturing electric vehicle chargers or creating new products from carbon captured from the atmosphere – the breadth of innovative companies working in the space is truly impressive.
Along the length of climate tech supply chains are innovative companies that need risk guidance and insurance protection. That is where the real opportunity for brokers and insurers exists.
Chubb’s climate tech practice exists to support this expansion and enable these businesses to thrive by providing insurance cover that keeps pace as they mature and scale, or as they develop from initial idea through to commercialisation.
Insurance needs
The insurance industry will need to keep pace with the climate tech sector – the drive for increasingly innovative solutions to the world’s climate crisis will undoubtably put more pressure on insurers to respond with carefully designed propositions.
At Chubb, our goal is to lead the way.
We have brought in climate industry expertise from outside the insurance sector to supplement our vast experience in analogous sectors to develop specific products for the growing climate tech space.
One of our first moves was to bring a multiline product for UK onshore wind and solar projects to market, including features such as seamless construction to operations cover.
Alongside writing risks across the industry, we are always looking for how our client-centric, industry expert approach can help develop new products specifically for the space.
New approaches
Developing a deep understanding of the needs of the various types of companies in the space will be key for the insurance industry. While traditional coverages such as public and products liability, employers liability and business interruption remain core, other more complex risk exist that may require bespoke coverage.
For example, many innovative firms are taking existing technologies and materials – such as hydrogen – where insurance experience already exists and finding novel uses for them, requiring interrogation of whether the coverage is truly fit for purpose.
Creating appropriate risk management and coverage will require combining technical and commercial expertise with insurance know-how.
In more established industries, where years of data inform the direction of travel, developing new insurance products is often more straightforward.
In new and emerging sectors like climate tech where historic data doesn’t exist, a more collaborative, innovative approach is needed, which is where the well-established Chubb industry practice brings real value.
These are not everyday risks and need specialist coverage advice, risk mitigation strategies and expert claims support.
At Chubb, we’re on the journey to support the growing green economy and are here to help our broker partners leverage the opportunity.
