A new report from Howden has revealed that the European agriculture sector loses an average of €28 billion annually due to adverse weather, with farmers bearing 70–80% of all weather-related farm losses, highlighting a significant insurance protection gap.
According to Howden, drought is responsible for over half of total agricultural losses and represents the most severe threat across all EU regions. Total losses are also projected to surpass €40 billion per year by 2050 if current emissions trends continue.
As mentioned, only 20-30% of these climate-related losses are insured via public, private or mutual systems, including by Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
“These averages mask stark disparities in crop and livestock insurance protection across EU Member States, including many cases where protection is non-existent,” Howden suggested.
With this in mind, the firm’s report “Insurance and Risk Management Tools for Agriculture in the EU”, produced in collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission, has presented a series of recommendations to reduce systemic risk and cushion economic shocks affecting farming communities and public finances.
These include streamlining data to enhance risk management, EU adoption of a suite of advanced risk-transfer mechanisms, including catastrophe bonds and public-private reinsurance arrangements, and scalable climate adaptation measures.
“The report recommends that the EU follow the path of other regional groups and governments by scaling up adoption of reinsurance and catastrophe bonds to protect EU budgets and provide pre-arranged, rapid-response funding when disasters strike, enabling faster recovery for farming communities. In addition, large-scale adaptation is key to sustaining subsidised insurance as risks rise, and essential in uninsured areas facing frequent losses. Policies should strengthen climate resilience at both farm and regional levels to maintain insurability,” Howden said.
Luigi Sturani, CEO of Howden Europe, commented, “Climate volatility is placing growing pressure on farmers and ultimately consumers. This report provides a clear call to action for EU agriculture and local governments to adapt.
“More robust forms of climate finance and establishing consistent risk quantification are essential to accelerating adaptation and ensuring future insurability of this essential sector.”
Massimo Reina, CEO of Howden Re International, said, “We are seeing growing interest from global reinsurers and capital markets to support EU agricultural resilience.
“Innovative financial mechanisms like catastrophe bonds and risk pooling can provide farmers, governments and the EU with the tools that they need to attract significant private sector capital to share in the risks and help secure our food systems.”
EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti added, “Climate-related risks are an increasing source of uncertainty for food production. Mitigating these risks through insurance and de-risking mechanisms is essential to support the investments of European farmers.
“The findings of this analysis will guide our future action as we step up support to bolster the resilience of the EU’s agricultural system.”
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