Climate change adds to list of uninsurable assets, Allianz executive says

Extreme weather events — such as the heat wave that just hit Europe — are making more and more assets too risky to insure, according to a director at Europe’s largest primary insurer. “Certain locations and perils cannot be covered as we would wish them to be covered,” said Guenther Thallinger, who sits on the management board of Allianz, in an interview. “We cannot help it.” Heat, floods, storms and wildfires “could become so frequent that they challenge traditional insurance models,” he said. “Risk-adequate pricing would not be affordable any longer.” The warning comes as millions of Europeans endure some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in the region, with scientists identifying man-made climate change as the cause.