The pressure of climate change risks is growing. Changing
weather patterns, wildfires, aridification, and water supply
issues, to name only a few, continue to dominate global
headlines.
As the consequences of climate change increasingly manifest
themselves, the business risks they pose are reaching into all
sectors of the economy. For D&O insurers, the predicted issues
of climate change-related liability will become a more pressing
underwriting and claims-handling challenge.
According to Francis Kean of FINEX Willis Towers Watson,
there are now over 1,300 cases arising from issues related to
climate change in 28 countries, with the United States accounting
for over 1,000 of these. Although we've seen few such claims in
the D&O context, that is poised to change. In August 2019, the
Canadian Securities Administrators issued a staff notice clarifying
and expanding on their guidelines for disclosures of material
climate change-related risks. Securities litigation is
