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Article | WTW Research Network Newsletter

WTW Research Network Q2 2023 Newsletter

A smarter way to risk research

July 3, 2023

The term ‘permacrisis’ topped the “words of the year” list for 2022, defining in a word the extended period of insecurity and instability that has dogged the 2020’s.
Aerospace|Climate|Insurance Consulting and Technology|Marine|Willis Research Network
Climate Risk and Resilience|Geopolitical Risk

For a hardening insurance market, with increasing premiums and decreasing capacity, the arrival of El Niño is likely to create yet more challenges. Costs associated to this natural climate pattern can soar into the trillions of dollars around the globe – in the early 1990s El Niño led over $4 trillion in global losses, with the 1997-98 El Niño costing over $5.5 trillion. With all the focus on human-induced climate change, understanding natural variability should not be neglected to get a fuller picture of near and medium term risk.

In the WTW 2021 Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Futures Reports – ‘Risks on the Horizon’, interviews with industry executives and observers highlighted that climate risk is a substantial and growing risk to companies operating in the technology, media and telecommunications sector. This year, WTW once again partnered with the Mack Institute’s Collaborative Innovation Program (CIP) at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania to understand explore the risks and opportunities from climate change for the TMT sector in a series of articles now available.

In April WTW we were able to host a seminar day looking at how the range of climate-related legal exposures facing companies has increased significantly in recent years, and provide with insights on climate-related liability risk exposures and opportunities. In June, at a follow up event we were delighted at the launch of a new White Paper written by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University titled Understanding Re(Insurer) Climate Litigation Risk. This is the companion to be written alongside a longer report from the Sabin Center, Modelling Climate Change Litigation Risk for (Re)Insurers.

As always, please do get in touch with any questions or for more information on how we can support your conversations.


Table of Contents


  1. 01

    Understanding Climate Litigation Risk

    Following on from our previous in-person event titled Climate liability: Time to future-proof your business, WTW together with the Sabin Center, Columbia University. Details of report and launch of the white paper to follow.


  2. 02

    Natural climate variability and our uneven transition to a warmer world

    By Scott St George | June 21, 2023

    People are pushing Earth’s climate to behave in ways never seen before. But if we want to truly take the measure of climate change, we must also account for the abiding influence of natural factors.


  3. 03

    Why relying on frequency-severity adjustments could underestimate your tail risk from climate change

    By Cameron Rye | June 20, 2023

    When modifying insurance catastrophe models for current and future climates, it’s vital to consider whether changes to losses are consistent with expectations and if there could be unquantified risks lurking in the tail.


  4. 04

    How do you weigh a biased perception of risk?

    By Jen Daffron | April 28, 2023

    Creating an accurate representation of risk requires a necessary bias check to ensure the impact of recently experienced risks do not cloud our vision from those on the horizon.


  5. 05

    The people aspects of climate risks and opportunities

    By Lucy Stanbrough and Fredrik Motzfeldt | May 25, 2023

    This article looks at how TMT companies can engage and involve their people to make progress towards their climate goals and opportunities


  6. 06

    Managing the risks and opportunities of climate change in the TMT industry

    By Fredrik Motzfeldt and Lucy Stanbrough | May 25, 2023

    This article series looks at the current and transitional climate risks and opportunities in the technology, media and telecommunications sector.


  7. 07

    China’s motivations and prospects as a facilitator: Newfound willingness and capacity

    By Omar Samhan | June 30, 2023

    China is positioning itself as a responsible mediator to much of the non-Western world intent on what it calls “win-win” collaborations and deepening economic ties via trade agreements.


  8. 08

    Geopolitical risks and the mining industry: looking beyond the Ukraine/Russia conflict

    By Hélène Galy | May 11, 2023

    In this article from the Mining Risk Review 2023, we look at the effects of the current geopolitical landscape on the mining industry


  9. 09

    An integrated end-to-end approach to time-dependent earthquake risk assessment

    By Salvatore Iacoletti and James Dalziel | May 11, 2023

    Do conventional earthquake risk models only considering mainshock events and using a time-independent earthquake rupture forecast neglect long-term repeated occurrences of large earthquakes?


  10. 10

    Beyond science fiction: The promise of AI-powered risk-assessment robots

    By Leon Davies and Simon Sølvsten | June 2, 2023

    Robotics technology and Generative AI models are combining to build 3-D floor plans, which could save considerable time for risk engineers.


Also of interest

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WTW Research Network, WTW
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Head of Organizational Resilience Hub, WTW Research Network

Weather & Climate Risks Research Lead
WTW Research Network
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