.... And Soon Their D&O Policyholders May Feel the Heat Too.
Writers of D&O Insurance Coverage Sweat Out D&O Liability Claims
Based on Effects of Climate Change.
This potential exposure surfaces in ever-increasing numbers of articles and news reports made available in particular to the Insurance industry. See, for example, Meg Green, "D&O Heats Up/Directors & Officers Writers Are Paying Close Attention to the Issue of Climate Change -- Not Just How it Could Affect Earth, But How it Could Impact Regulations and Ultimately Lead to Future Litigation and Claims," 108 Best's Review 24 (August 2007) (subscription required for print edition), link here for subscription-required ONLINE edition; "Climate-Change Exposures Mount in Directors & Officers Line," BEST'S REVIEW (July 30, 2007; online subscription required).
A significant measure of the Insurance industry's growing understanding of the risks inherent in climate change is in the behavior of leading Insurance Companies. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and Prudential Financial, Inc. are two leading Groups of Insurance Companies. They both recently agreed with Calvert, a mutual fund and one of their investors, to "improve their public reporting and disclosure regarding the potential financial risks they face from climate change and strategies for mitigating those risks." Calvert then withdrew its climate change shareholder resolutions filed with both Insurance Companies, before the resolutions came to a vote of all the shareholders who could vote on the respective resolutions. Calvert Press Release, "Insurance Companies Commit to Climate Change Disclosure" (April 10, 2007).
If the Insurance Industry anticipates and expects D&O Claims to be made because of climate change, and expects that D&O Claims made on the basis of climate change will thereafter spiral higher and higher, then Claims to Coverage and Damages under D&O Coverage will not only soon be made but will result in mounting numbers of Claims in Suit. Those lawsuits will be reported here and they will also be made available here whenever possible via online links, together with Insurance Coverage analysis of the reality of this exposure if, when and as the anticipated exposure becomes reality.
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