ESG and sustainability have gained huge attention within Russian media and politics in recent months, argues Gepa Jansen, Operational Leader Team Russia & CIS at Swiss Re in the following article. Read her opinion oin the opportunities that ESG brings to the Russian insurance market.

The last report "New Care Models: How insurers can rise to the challenge of older and sicker societies", which is a product of the Health & Ageing work stream of The Geneva Association, co-sponsored by Thomas BUBERL, CEO of AXA, and Michel KHALAF, CEO of MetLife, explores innovations in the planning, purchasing and delivery of health services.

Extreme precipitation in mid-July resulted in the costliest European flooding event on record, and the deadliest in nearly 30 years, reads the Global Catastrophe Recap report released by Aon. Only in Germany, the official death toll listed at 197, while direct damage was anticipated at about USD 20 billion, of which up to USD 6.5 billion insured losses.

Estimated insured losses from natural catastrophes at USD 40 billion are the second highest on record for a first half year since 2011, the Swiss Re Institute said, stressing out that winter storms, intense heatwaves and severe flooding around the globe continue to signal the growing risks from secondary perils, fueled by rapid urban development and climate change.

In the research report named "Why life insurers are embracing partnerships and ecosystems", prepared in partnership with EIS, the leaders shared some tips for how life insurers can benefit from partnerships and ecosystems.

The third edition of the Global Insurance Law Connect RADAR report gives an opportunity to know the approaches, regulatory challenges, and stories of innovations that different markets share during such a challenging period that the industry is going through.

Year 2021 will see an above-trend global premium growth of 3.3%, while for 2022 a 3.9% growth rate may be expected, the latest annual world insurance premium sigma released by the Swiss Re Institute. As such, global premiums may reach USD 6.9 trillion.

The pathway to tackle climate change is clear: Reducing CO2 emissions is the priority and then any unavoidable emissions need to be removed from the atmosphere and stored permanently, the latest Swiss Re Institute report "The insurance rationale for carbon removal solutions" shows.

"From a cyber perspective, only two types of companies exist: those that have been hacked and those that will be hacked," reads a recent Hiscox report which also calls ransomware attacks a "digital pandemic" with which 2020/21 will be for ever associated, as well as with the Covid-19 pandemics.

The Covid-19 pandemic not only caused millions of premature deaths, but it had also an impact on the number of births. This trend, especially if lasting for several years, will increase the demographic imbalance, exacerbating the challenges of an ageing population.

A new report released by The Geneva Association offers a comprehensive projection of the risk landscape in the post-pandemic world, or 'New Normal', expounding the four most consequential shifts for insurers: accelerated digitalization, 'Big Government', pivot to resilience and sustainability, and more remote working.

Authored by Isabelle Fluckiger and Matteo Carbone, a new report from The Geneva Association explores how IoT applications are driving the shift from traditional risk transfer to technology-enabled risk mitigation and prevention services in the insurance industry.

Zurich has issued a report containing fresh insights about national economic responses to the pandemic and how the future of the world of work and social protection have in many ways already arrived.

Successful insurers will connect channels and empower their distribution network with emerging technologies, to overcome COVID-19's impact on customer acquisition and retention, the recently published Capgemini and EFMA's World Insurance Report 2021 shows.

Throughout 2020, a significant change in how people are using their cars has developed, driven by the lockdown and the subsequent travel restrictions, as well as by the new remote working stile or the avoidance of using public transportation means.

The second report in The Geneva Association's research series on pandemics and insurance explores four exemplary and generic types of public-private pandemic risk solutions - direct insurance, reinsurance, social insurance and post-event protection - and compares the benefits of each against seven public policy objectives.

A new report that provides an analysis of the climate change litigation landscape, aiming to better define the boundaries of this growing global phenomenon and further understand its development and impact has been issued by The Geneva Association, in collaboration with leading legal experts.

Natural catastrophes in 2020 caused global economic losses of USD 190 billion. In GDP normalised terms, losses rose 1.6% between 1970-2020 on a 10-year moving average basis. For insurance, the losses in 2020 were USD 89 billion, making it the fifth-costliest year on sigma records since 1970.

The Big Four European reinsurers (Hannover Re, Munich Re, SCOR and Swiss Re), accounting together for about one third of global P&C reinsurance premiums, have each took advantage of firmer pricing to grow selectively in the 1 January 2021 P&C reinsurance renewals, Litmus Analysis' annual survey has found.

"The year 2020 continued a multiyear trend in which global insurers are streamlining their businesses by simplifying operations and redefining themselves with a narrower scope and stronger core." Reads the latest Bain's M&A Report for 2021.