Biodiversity and Re/insurance: An Ecosystem at Risk

Jules Chandellier (1) , Marine Malacain (1)

1 DGD.REVE - Direction générale déléguée à la Recherche, à l’Expertise, à la Valorisation et à l’Enseignement-Formation

Humans evolve in a given environment, i.e. all their activities are constrained by that environment and what it offers at any given time and place. The report investigates the interactions of one such activity, the re/insurance industry, with the ever-evolving surrounding environment in which it operates and that is characterized by biodiversity, that is the diversity of Earth’s living beings. To that end, the report starts by providing scientific evidence on biodiversity loss and the interactions (impacts and dependencies) with human societies. It goes on to investigate the risks that biodiversity loss poses to human societies and then examines how re/insurers are exposed to those risks, how they affect biodiversity themselves and what opportunities exist for them to align their agenda with biodiversity challenges. The report was written by Jules Chandellier and Marine Malacain under the supervision of Nirmala Séon-Massin, Magali Gorce and Vincent Hulin (until August 2020). The report has been reviewed by a Scientific Advisory Board. This project was made possible thanks to the support of the SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science.

Mots clés: Biodiversity; Insurance; Reinsurance; Ecosystem; Risk; Impact; Finance; Investing; Underwriting; Environmental economics; Environment; Nature

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie; Environnement et Société; Sciences de l'environnement; Economies et finances; Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Gestion des risques [q-fin.RM]

Jules Chandellier, Marine Malacain. Biodiversity and Re/insurance: An Ecosystem at Risk. [Research Report] Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. 2021. ⟨hal-03213905⟩