2024-05-28
Deputy Greens Leader and Climate Adaptation spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi will chair a Select Committee on the Impact of Climate Risk on Insurance Premiums.
The inquiry, which will present its final report by 19 November, will examine how the climate crisis is making it harder and more expensive for people to afford insurance, including in places like Brisbane and the Northern Rivers region in NSW. Submissions can be made here.
Quotes attributable to Senator Faruqi:
“Rising insurance premiums are at the confluence of the cost of living and climate crises. The Greens are giving people and businesses on the front line of these crises a chance to tell their stories.
“Coal and gas companies are wrecking the planet and ordinary people are paying the price.
“Not only do fossil fuel companies rake in huge profits and receive mammoth subsidies from the Government, they are currently bearing none of the consequences of their planet destroying greed.
“It's only fair that the immensely profitable corporations who are knowingly worsening the crisis are made to pay their fair share and help clean up the mess. The Greens are fighting for people and the planet..
“More and more of this country is becoming unaffordable and uninhabitable as climate disasters escalate and insurance premiums soar. For this to be occuring during a cost-of-living crisis and whilst fossil fuel companies make a killing, is outrageous.
“We want to hear from communities and individuals who are bearing the brunt of climate-driven risks.”
Quotes attributable to Greens Candidate for Richmond, Mandy Nolan:
“The seat of Richmond was recently ranked as the second most climate vulnerable region in the country, and it’s put people’s insurance premiums through the roof. According to insurance experts, by 2030 20% of homes in the Northern Rivers will be uninsurable - that’s 22,274 households left in the water, waiting for the next climate disaster.”
“Climate risk, fuelled by coal and gas corporations, has broken our insurance system, and its people in my region who are paying the price. I’ve heard story after story from locals who can’t afford to reinsure their property after the catastrophic 2022 floods. I welcome the opportunity for our voices to be heard, and for tangible solutions to address the mounting costs of insurance in a climate crisis.”
Committee Inquiry Terms of Reference
(a) the unaffordability of insurance in some regions due to climate-driven disasters;
(b) the unavailability of insurance for some people due to climate-driven disasters;
(c) the underlying causes and impacts of increases in insurance premiums;
(d) the extent to which increased climate risk is being priced into insurance products not exposed to climate-driven risks;
(e) the distributional impact of increases in insurance premiums across communities, demographics and regions;
(f) the role of governments to implement climate adaptation and resilience measures to reduce risks and the cost of insurance;
(g) how the pricing of risk from climate-driven disasters can be better redistributed across the economy; and
(h) any other related matters.