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332 L.Schäfer et al.
accurately estimate expected losses, a key condition of insurability is violated.”
Kunreuther andMichel (2008) therefore conclude that only a requirement by law
willmakeinsurersprovidecoverageforclimate-relatedrisk thathaveahighenough
potential for causingcatastrophic losses in specificareas.
BehaviouralFactors:WhyPeopleDon’t InsureAgainstBigRisks
Ithasoftenbeenobservedthathomeownersdon’tpurchasedisasterinsurance.While
budgetconstraintsareoneexplanationforthisbehaviour,anotherexplanationispeo-
ple’stendencytounderstatetheprobabilityofarareeventsandcatastrophesforthem-
selves.Kunreuther and Pauly (2004) could show that “people don’t insure against
low-probability high-loss events evenwhen it is offered at favourable premiums.”
Duetoapre-disaster“Itwillnothappentome”perception,peopledon’tfeeltheneed
tovoluntarilypurchaseinsurancecoverage(Hertwigetal.2004).KouskyandCooke
(2012) conclude that “homeowners, facingabudget constraint andaconstraint that
their utilitywith insurance exceeds thatwithout it,mayfind the required loadings
toohigh tomake insurancepurchaseanoptimaldecision.”
13.4.2 SevenPrinciples toDesignEffectivePro-poor
InsuranceSolutions
This chapter is basedon theobservation that poor andvulnerable people andcom-
munitiesalreadyexist andpersist at theedgesofadaptation limits,operatingwithin
adaptation frontiers.Tosuccessfullynavigateadaptation frontiers, thesepeopleand
communities need tools that allow them to explore the frontier, stay away from
adaptation limits and continuously move into safer domains. So far, this chapter
establishedthat insurancecanbeusedasanavigational toolaroundadaptationfron-
tiers,howeverhas limits thathave tobe taken intoaccountwhenapplying insurance
instruments.Basedon thesefindings, thefinalpart of thechapter examines success
criteriaforinstrumentslikeinsurancetoapproachtheirpotentialasriskmanagement
tool indevelopingcountries.
In describing these success criteria wemake use of an analysis of 18 existing
insurance schemes with regard to success factors and challenges for climate risk
insurance for the poor andvulnerable, conducted by a team from theMCII.Based
onthisanalysis, theMCII teamdistilledsevenPro-PoorPrinciples forClimateRisk
Insurance (Schäfer et al. 2016). The principles can aid decisionmakers and prac-
titioners in reachingpoor andvulnerable peoplewith effective insurance solutions.
They can guide the design process of new insurance schemes that target the poor
andvulnerable inparticular by following the suggested stepsorhelpwith the iden-
tification of existing insurance schemes to be supported by climate risk insurance
initiatives.Additionally, theprinciplescanbeused tosupportclimate risk insurance
practitioners in assessing and/or improving their current operations.Theprinciples
aredescribed inBox13.2and furtherdiscussedbelow.
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Title
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Subtitle
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Authors
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 580
- Keywords
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima