Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer

[u/RunAmbitious2593]

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.”

[u/FridgeParade]

And where were these insanely powerful people at every fckng climate summit? Why arent they spending billions on info campaigns and refusing to insure fossil fuel projects? They wouldnt even be doing it for the good of all, just because it’s good business for them.

They hold the power but they just whimper and bitch a bit now that it’s too late? Fckng hell.

[u/Cristoff13 → u/FridgeParade]

Our current civilization is fossil fuels though. Utterly dependent on them. Switching over to other energy sources is going to require entirely changing our civilization. And whatever form it takes, it will be poorer and with a far slower economic growth rate.

But of course business as usual is untenable due to global warming and that fossil fuels are a finite resource.

[u/West-Abalone-171 → u/Cristoff13]

Not setting your money on fire is way cheaper than setting your money on fire.

Oil and coal won out in the 20th century because hydro and wind required thinking ahead ten years, doing something that benefits everyone, and caring about externalities. Not because fossil fuels are better for an economy.

Now fossil fuels are not even viable for next quarter's profits without massive subsidies and regulatory protection.