How technology is changing climate risk insurance

The world is experiencing the effects of climate change all around, including increased storm intensity, drought, extreme heat waves, and sea level rise. Natural catastrophes are becoming more severe and common as a result of these effects. The average number of natural catastrophes in the United States per year between 1980 and 2021 was 6 or 9, but so far in 2022, there have already been more than 12 and these losses were caused by natural disasters like wildfires and drought. Insurance firms are struggling to survive as natural catastrophes are occurring more frequently and costing more money. This has an impact on the property market as well as the overall economy. The insurance industry will need to reform if it is to survive the coming storms. Points of discussion: 1. Financial risks brought on by climate change are difficult to evaluate and price. How do you see insurers utilising alternate data sources, real-time analytics, and AI to better address climate change challenges and price such risks appropriately? 2. Do you see parametric model playing an important role in helping both insurers and its customers against climate related risks? 3. At Arbol, your team is focused on smart contracts and blockchain solutions to codify policies and help customers with a faster claims pay-out. Can you explain this in a bit detail on how you do this and what blockchain can do to address climate risk. Speaker Bio: Siddhartha Jha is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Arbol, a global climate risk solutions platform focused on data-driven parametric insurance. Sid is also a co-founder of dClimate, the first decentralized climate information ecosystem. Prior to Arbol and dClimate, he had over 13 years of experience in the financial industry covering the interest rates and commodities in both quantitative research and trading roles. He launched an agriculture futures trading portfolio, managing over $100 million at a major commodity trading firm, and was the first analyst at a start-up commodity hedge fund, which grew to manage over $600 million in assets. He was previously a Vice President of Interest Rates Strategy at J.P. Morgan. Besides, Siddhartha authored the well-received book "Interest Rate Markets" and has taught financial markets at NYU and was on the board of a non-profit working with inner city youth. Siddhartha graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. with distinction in Applied Mathematics and M.A. in Statistics as part of a 4-year combined degree program.