Time is running out

Ok I’m going to start at the beginning, I joined Shell International in The Hague in 1985 as a young engineer because…. well why not and the pay was great. I have worked in the energy industry ever since and today I will not work for industries that develop new reserves of coal or oil…

The Canaries in the Coal mine

From its origins in the coffee houses of London during the late seventeenth century until now, the modern insurance industry has always been affected by the vagaries of the weather. The Lutine Bell traditionally rang out in the Lloyd’s Building in London to alert underwriters to impending bad news like the sinking of a merchantman…

Who should pay for climate change?

Often,  giving people  a  reason to think  or  act in  a certain way is  one  of the most powerful tools  one can  employ. The hope  of those concerned about climate change is that these reasons can be mutually communicated and agreed at the Conference of the Parties (to the UNFCCC) in Paris later this year.…

Insurance & Climate change

Insurance & Climate change My  day  was  brightened  this  morning  by  noticing  a  colourful  advertisement  in  my  newspaper  of choice for the new Coral Reefs – Secret Cities of the Seas exhibition which is being staged by the Natural  History  Museum.  It  was  not  so  much  the  witty  depiction  of  the  reef  denizens  as stay …