Insurance Association of Türkiye: Climate change should be seen as a financial risk

Evaluating the climate summit COP31, which will start in Antalya on November 9, Özgür Obalı, Secretary General of the Insurance Association of Turkey, described the conference being held in Türkiye as a strategic development and said, "We need to stop seeing climate change as an environmental issue. Climate risks can cause many consequences that affect the economy, agriculture, food chains and even the industry, including supply chains. Therefore, we have to see it as a financial risk. Insurance is exactly this in terms of managing risks and developing early warning systems." "It stands in the center," he said.

WE ACT ON 3 MAIN TITLES

Underlining that the conference is an extremely important opportunity for climate diplomacy, Obalı noted that they found the conference extremely valuable in terms of including insurance as a title in the final declarations and keeping insurance on the agenda of decision-makers and legislators. Underlining that the concept of preventive insurance has come to the fore in recent years, Obalı stated that insurance acts under three main headings in order to limit the impact of climate change on our lives and said: "We are entering a period in which we will be active in taking the necessary precautions and implementing preventive measures before the events occur, secondly, we will provide financial support as the paying party, but most importantly, we can take an active role in the realization of medium and long-term strategies."

CONFIDENCE IN INSURANCE INCREASES

Emphasizing that insurance has changed its shell in recent years, Obalı said, "Insurance has experienced an extremely positive transformation, especially with its damage payment performance and rapid reflexes after the earthquake in 2023. We have already seen that the trust in insurance has increased since then. This year, as of August, approximately 1 trillion liras of premium production has been achieved. There is a sector that pays almost half of this to the insured as damage and compensation. There is intense competition. Prices are also an extremely supportive attitude in terms of supporting economic policies." "Insurance inflation is below the headline inflation, it is important to make this sustainable," he said.