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Building a sustainable energy future: risks and opportunities

Swiss Re report investigates the impact of sustainable energy sources on climate change

The report examines six climate change-influenced scenarios for the global energy mix along with the risks, focusing on renewable energy and the role insurance can play in enabling innovation in the sector.

download report: Building a sustainable energy future: risks and opportunities

In the best-case scenario, a successful mix of political, social and technological factors would mean that low-carbon technologies could supply 92% of the global power supply by 2050. This would cap the global temperature increase at 3°C. However, reaching this goal would involve global policy consensus, relatively stable economic conditions and strong public support for the replacement of fossil fuel technologies with low-carbon energy sources.

The report emphasises the need for a realistic approach to the energy issue. In doing so, it tackles some of the difficulties that need to be overcome in diversifying the energy system. For example, as renewable energies become more prevalent in the energy mix, demand for fossil fuel technologies will sink. This suggests that increased renewable energy demand would make fossil fuels more attractive from a relative price perspective.

The changing energy landscape will provide new growth opportunities for insurers. According to the scenarios presented in the report, the Asia-Pacific region will drive growth in the energy sector and is expected to account for 50% of the total annual global energy financing by 2030.

As investment and infrastructure develop, the need for insurance protection will also increase. Under one scenario, the total annual losses across the energy sector could reach up to USD 42 billion by 2030. Insurers can provide financial protection against these losses as well as risk management expertise to help avoid losses in the first place.

Quelle: Swiss Re report, Zürich 2013 Order no: 1505615_13_en 01/13, 1000 en

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