Climate Change: Housing Insurability, Mortgage Lending and Financial Resilience Debate
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Baroness Neville-Rolfe
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Climate Change: Housing Insurability, Mortgage Lending and Financial Resilience
Baroness Neville-Rolfe Excerpts(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
The Government have already committed significant investment in the transition to net zero, including £2.6 billion to decarbonise transport, £1.4 billion to support the uptake of electric vehicles, £2.7 billion a year for sustainable farming and nature recovery, and £13.2 billion to support the rollout of heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies as part of the warm homes plan, so I do not accept what the noble Baroness has said.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)
My Lords, London is the world’s leading international centre for commercial insurance and reinsurance, which is a subject of this Question. Does the Minister agree that insurance companies, with their considerable long-term expertise, are best placed to determine how the effect of climate change is reflected in premiums? Does he agree that, going forward, that knowledge should influence those—not least our planners—determining where it makes sense to build, so that we get on with housing and infrastructure as we need to do?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right about the importance of getting on with housing and infrastructure, and that is what this Government are seeking to achieve. She is absolutely right to say that a resilient and affordable insurance market is necessary for enabling businesses and households to recover quickly from climate events. The Climate Change Committee has assessed that the insurance gap is currently low relative to most countries. However, without sufficient adaptation, the number of properties that do not have the necessary insurance is expected to grow as climate risks increase. The Government are committed to ensuring that the long-term impacts of climate change are managed. The Government will strengthen the UK’s approach as part of the fourth national adaptation programme, which will set stronger adaptation objectives to improve preparedness for climate impacts.