r/Futurology • u/RunAmbitious2593 • 3d ago

Economics Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer

The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks, said Günther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies. He said that without insurance, which is already being pulled in some places, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments.

Global carbon emissions are still rising and current policies will result in a rise in global temperature between 2.2C and 3.4C above pre-industrial levels. The damage at 3C will be so great that governments will be unable to provide financial bailouts and it will be impossible to adapt to many climate impacts, said Thallinger, who is also the chair of the German company’s investment board and was previously CEO of Allianz Investment Management...

...Thallinger said it was a systemic risk “threatening the very foundation of the financial sector”, because a lack of insurance means other financial services become unavailable: “This is a climate-induced credit crunch.”

“This applies not only to housing, but to infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, and industry,” he said. “The economic value of entire regions – coastal, arid, wildfire-prone – will begin to vanish from financial ledgers. Markets will reprice, rapidly and brutally. This is what a climate-driven market failure looks like.”

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u/RunAmbitious2593 3d ago

Excerpt:

The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks, said Günther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies. He said that without insurance, which is already being pulled in some places, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments.

Global carbon emissions are still rising and current policies will result in a rise in global temperature between 2.2C and 3.4C above pre-industrial levels. The damage at 3C will be so great that governments will be unable to provide financial bailouts and it will be impossible to adapt to many climate impacts, said Thallinger, who is also the chair of the German company’s investment board and was previously CEO of Allianz Investment Management...

Thallinger said it was a systemic risk “threatening the very foundation of the financial sector”, because a lack of insurance means other financial services become unavailable: “This is a climate-induced credit crunch.”

“This applies not only to housing, but to infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, and industry,” he said. “The economic value of entire regions – coastal, arid, wildfire-prone – will begin to vanish from financial ledgers. Markets will reprice, rapidly and brutally. This is what a climate-driven market failure looks like.”

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u/Haelphadreous 3d ago

The best part is that the group of ultra wealthy profiting off this have known about the problem for well over 100 years. But rather than doing anything about an issue that could literally lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it, they have instead spent money on suppressing the info and spreading disinformation about the problem to prevent any actions to address the issue. They literally deemed future chaos and death on a global scale more palatable than giving up even a tiny scrap of their obscene wealth and influence.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/13/fact-check-yes-1912-article-linked-burning-coal-climate-change/8124455002/

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u/Outside-Car1988 3d ago

It won't stop the wealthy. They'll continue to take premiums for insurance policies, receive an obscene salary, and let the company go bankrupt when it can't pay out claims. Then they start a new insurance business and repeat the whole process. That's what they do today (not just insurance)

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u/ambyent 3d ago

That’s why there’s only one solution. Chop chop. Or else the bottom 99% dies and it’s totally fine to talk about that one

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u/Kindly-Guidance714 3d ago

This should be number 1 really.

The brutal reality is gonna gut everyone like a truck packed with dynamite.