(Adnkronos) - “Per noi il clima è un tema fondamentale. È uno di quei temi che nel disegnare la nuova strategia abbiamo identificato avente doppia materialità: ha un impatto molto importante sul nostro business, basti pensare che sottoscriviamo da sempre polizze catastrofali, ma è anche un tema su cui pensiamo di poter generare un impatto positivo, ad esempio aiutando i nostri clienti ad avere un atteggiamento più consapevole e preventivo nei confronti del rischio stesso”. Queste le parole di Francesca Monti, Group Head of Climate Hub di Generali, durante il meeting “Sfide scientifiche e gestionali per una società resiliente ai rischi ambientali in un clima che cambia” organizzato a Trieste dall’Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale - Ogs nell’ambito del progetto Return.
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00:00Climate change is a fundamental issue for us.
00:07It is one of those issues that, in designing the new strategy,
00:10we have identified as having double materiality.
00:13What does it mean to have double materiality?
00:15It means that it is both an issue that has a very important impact on our business,
00:19just think that we have always signed catastrophic policies,
00:24but it is also an issue on which we think we can generate a positive impact,
00:28for example by helping our customers to have a more aware and preventive attitude towards the risk itself.
00:36The general group has such a strong commitment on this issue
00:40that it has also created a dedicated structure and a center of excellence,
00:43which is called Group Climate Hub,
00:45which has the task of overseeing all the strategic initiatives
00:49that the group is carrying out on the issue of both risk mitigation and risk adaptation.
00:56In Italy, the obligation for small and medium-sized enterprises is about to start,
01:00on the catastrophic coverages.
01:02In other European countries similar laws already exist or are being discussed.
01:06Do you see this more as a risk or as an opportunity?
01:10We certainly see it as an opportunity,
01:13not only because it allows us to do more business,
01:15but also because it pushes us to do it in a more sophisticated way.
01:19Let me explain.
01:20If we want to help governments to fill the protection gap
01:25that exists in most of the markets in which we operate,
01:27and this is the spirit with which these laws are born,
01:30to do it in a way that is financially sustainable,
01:33we must have a deeper understanding of the dynamics
01:37that are at the base of climate risks
01:39and how these impact our customers and our portfolios.
01:43To be able to do this, we must work on two main aspects,
01:48which are the ones we talked about here today.
01:51One is to use more and more data and models
01:55that allow us to analyze this risk,
01:57to understand it and to understand the causes.
02:00The other is collaboration.
02:01We cannot do it alone.
02:03We need to join forces with other players,
02:06both in the private sector, but also in the public and with the scientific community.
02:10In our opinion, it is a great opportunity to be able to do something together
02:14for a good that is a common good.
02:16Of course, as insurers, using data to be able to make a price
02:20as adequate as possible is certainly an important aspect,
02:24but it is not the only one.
02:25To understand the climate risk in depth,
02:28to understand, for example, what causes a flood or a landslide
02:31and how this impacts the assets that we insure,
02:35is also at the base of being able to identify
02:37and then promote prevention actions.
02:40In a system in which the climate risk is unfortunately deteriorating more and more,
02:45the structural solution cannot only be a financial mechanism
02:48that will cover a loss after the event has taken place,
02:51but it must be more and more up-to-date,
02:54so to understand the causes and try to support our clients
02:58and the communities in which we work to prevent it as much as possible.
03:02This is the approach we want to have on this issue as a general group.