Zoom Image
Hessian town of Roth: More and more flood and climate damage
Photo: Nadine Weigel / dpa
In view of increasing climate-related weather extremes, German insurers are warning of sharply rising premiums for building insurance. "If we do not consistently implement prevention and adaptation to the effects of climate change, premiums could double in Germany within the next ten years," said Jörg Asmussen, Managing Director of the German Insurance Association (GDV). And this "solely as a result of the climate damage".
In some places, insurance for buildings could even become so expensive that customers could no longer afford it, Asmussen said. As a result, some insurers may be forced to go out of business.
The association refers to the current findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, according to which extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. Germany, too, must be prepared for more and more floods, storms and droughts.
The insurers are therefore calling for greater attention to be paid to climate adaptation in planning and construction and for a construction freeze to be imposed in flooded areas. The association calls on the state to step in to step in in the event of extremely high amounts of damage above a certain limit. However, we are talking about exceptional disasters with a loss volume of more than 30 billion euros.
ssu/AFP/dpa