scholarly journals Adaptation to Climate Change: Threats and Opportunities for the Insurance Industry

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 360-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celine Herweijer ◽  
Nicola Ranger ◽  
Robert E T Ward
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Yiou ◽  
Nicolas Viovy

Abstract. Estimating the risk of collapse of forests due to extreme climate events is one of the challenges of adaptation to climate change. We adapt a concept from ruin theory, which is widespread in econometrics or the insurance industry, to design a growth/ruin model for trees, under climate hazards that can jeopardize their growth. This model is an elaboration of a classical Cramer-Lundberg ruin model that is used in the insurance industry. The model accounts for the interactions between physiological parameters of trees and the occurrence of climate hazards. The physiological parameters describe interannual growth rates and how trees react to hazards. The hazard parameters describe the probability distributions of occurrence and intensity of climate events. We focus on a drought/heatwave hazard. The goal of the paper is to determine the dependence of ruin and average growth probability distributions as a function of physiological and hazard parameters. From extensive Monte Carlo experiments, we show the existence of a threshold on the frequency of hazards beyond which forest ruin becomes certain in a centennial horizon. We also detect a small effect of strategies to cope with hazards. This paper is a proof-of-concept to quantify collapse (of forests) under climate change.


Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Elia ◽  
Stephen Mutula ◽  
Christine Stilwell

This study was part of broader PhD research which investigated how access to, and use of, information enhances adaptation to climate change and variability in the agricultural sector in semi-arid Central Tanzania. The research was carried out in two villages using Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory and model to assess the dissemination of this information and its use by farmers in their adaptation of their farming practices to climate change and variability. This predominantly qualitative study employed a post-positivist paradigm. Some elements of a quantitative approach were also deployed in the data collection and analysis. The principal data collection methods were interviews and focus group discussions. The study population comprised farmers, agricultural extension officers and the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa project manager. Qualitative data were subjected to content analysis whereas quantitative data were analysed to generate mostly descriptive statistics using SPSS.  Key findings of the study show that farmers perceive a problem in the dissemination and use of climate information for agricultural development. They found access to agricultural inputs to be expensive, unreliable and untimely. To mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and variability on farming effectively, the study recommends the repackaging of current and accurate information on climate change and variability, farmer education and training, and collaboration between researchers, meteorology experts, and extension officers and farmers. Moreover, a clear policy framework for disseminating information related to climate change and variability is required.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dibakar Mahanta ◽  
Jaideep Kumar Bisht ◽  
Lakshmi Kant ◽  
Arunava Pattanayak

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