Booth: It is good for limiting climate change and it will eventually also be good for industry. For sure, it will be good for our industry. We see raising claims due to natural catastrophes and have a vested in interest in reducing global warming. We already help to design strategies and measures to adapt to already existing effects of climate change.
German Chancellor Merkel is showing the kind of political leadership that it takes to address this issue.
"We support the EU presidency's ambitious targets"
Allianz.com News: German Chancellor Merkel is taking a leadership role on global warming. Is this good for industry?
Booth: "Merkel's leadership role on global warming is good for the industry"
How far do you go in supporting the EU presidency’s ambitious CO2 targets?
Booth: As far as you can. Chancellor Merkel’s proposal for a 60 to 80 percent mandatory emissions reduction target for industrialized economies until 2050 is perfectly reasonable. This is what you need to do to stabilize global temperate rise by 2 degrees Celsius. Anything more than 2 degrees is not only uncomfortable – it is dangerous and costly!
We think unilateral targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in EU are necessary. The proposed targets are essential to the credibility of the EU's response to climate change and should not be weakened.
How should this translate into policy?
Booth: Meaningful measures to increase energy efficiency are essential both to mitigating climate change and to increasing energy security. Allianz would therefore encourage the Council to establish a binding target committing the EU to reducing its primary energy usage 20 percent by 2020.
What do you think about a renewable energy target of 20 percent?
Booth: A binding target for renewable energy makes sense. The binding character is particularly relevant for us as an investor to create the necessary investment security.
Economists say that to reach this goal you need to decartelize ownership of the power grid in Europe…
Booth: Yes, measures to break up the concentration of the ownership of grid and power production will allow for more harmonized effective and unbiased power load management and will help ensure that renewable and clean energy start-up companies can get fair access to the grid. But much attention needs to be paid to how deconcentration is achieved.
How do you see the role of the insurance industry in this debate?
Booth: Our industry has been at the forefront of this debate for a long time. We consider ourselves to be some kind of an "early warning system" for future risks to come. Climate change is certainly that.
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