Reinsurance and Climate Change

Reinsurers insure direct insurers against excess losses by diversifying risks across the globe and thus spreading direct non-life and life insurance. Recently, this economic background function has come to the fore of media attention as the rise in reinsurance premiums and even retreat from markets too exposed to climate change has made entire areas and branches uninsurable. Due to their global focus on excess losses, reinsurers have been in a unique position to document and be subjected to climate catastrophes, while they themselves have become increasingly intertwined with capital markets through catastrophe bonds and financial investments. This workshop looks to bring together scholars from different disciplines (including history, political science, economics, sociology, geography) to foster dialogue about the reinsurance industry in the context of climate change.

Preliminary Workshop Program

Reinsurance and Climate Change

December 11-12th 2025 

at the John F. Kennedy Institute, Freie Universität Berlin 

Organizers: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kohl, Dr. Nils Röper

We gratefully acknowledge funding by German Research Foundation

Thursday, December 11

12:00                   Registration and light lunch

12:30 – 12:45      Welcome and Introduction

    Sebastian Kohl

Session 1: Historical Perspectives on Reinsurance and Climate Change

Chair:  Charlotte Cavaille

12:45 – 13:30        Environmental Risk and the Early History of Reinsurance

                              Robin Pearson, University of Hull

13:30 – 14:15        tba

                              Eleonora Rohland, Bielefeld University

14:15 - 14.30         Coffee Break

14.30 – 15:15         Sustainability as business model and communication strategy. Munich Re's influence on the German environmental discourse since the 1970s

                               Sönke Hebing, RWTH Aachen University

15.15 – 16.00          US and European insurance approaches to dealing with climate change. A historical survey 

  Niels Viggo Haueter, University of York, CEGBI 

Session 2: Geography of reinsurance: climate change and financialization

Chair: Vera Linke

16:15– 17:00       tba

  Leigh Johnson, University of Oregon 

17:00 – 17:45          tba

                                Zac Taylor, Delft University of Technology

17:45 - 18:00          Coffee Break

18:00– 18:45            The long-run evolution of non-life insurance and its determinants

                                 Matthias Römer, Freie Universität Berlin

19:00 Workshop dinner

Friday, December 12

Session 3: Politics of reinsurance: climate change and financialization

Chair: Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen

09:30 – 10:15      Politics of Re-insurance

Waltraud Schelkle, EUI

10:15 – 11:00     From Risk to Opportunity? The Business of Reinsuring Climate Change

      Nils Röper & Sebastian Kohl, Freie Universität Berlin

11:00 – 11:15       Coffee break

11:15 - 12:00       What is Insurability or Non-Insurability for a Reinsurer?

     Laurence Barry

12:00 - 12:45 Mind the Climate-Related Protection Gap – Reinsurance Pricing and Underwriting Considerations

     Christoph Möhr

13:00 Light lunch

Confirmed participants:

Robin Pearson (Hull University)

Nils-Vieggo Haueter (University of York, CEGBI)

Leigh Johnson (University of Oregon)

Waltraut Schelkle (EUI Florence, LSE)

Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen (Tampere University)

Sönke Hebing (RWTH Aachen)

Eleonora Rohland (Bielefeld University)

Zac Taylor (TU Delft)

Vera Linke (Beisheim School)

Charlotte Cavaille (Toulouse School of Economics)

Preston Johnston (Massachussets Institute of Technology)

Laurence Barry (PARI)

Christoph Möhr (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority)

Matthias Römer (FU Berlin)