This timely initiative is symbolic of the devastating and far-reaching impact of climate change. A new global partnership with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) will focus on the impact of climate change on terrorism.
START, based at the University of Maryland in the US, with the cooperation of IFTRIP – the largest global terrorism pools forum – and Pool Re SOLUTIONS, will produce a series of rapid reports underlining the impact climate change is having on the drivers of terrorism, examining both the current and contemporary threats and global regional outlooks.
The research, which will be outcome focussed, will also provide possible actions and recommendations of how to mitigate this risk. These will be presented at the next International Forum of Terrorism Risk (Re) Insurance Pools (IFTRIP) meeting in Washington DC in May 2022.
The momentum for this project has been building for some time, and as world leaders meet in Glasgow to commence the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, the three ways in which climate change and terrorism appear to interact are revealed as:
- as an indirect contributor,
- as an ideological driver,
- as a tool with which to control populations.
Terrorism poses significant implications for the insurance industry, governments and others interested in the issue of resilience, and it is hoped the study will be able to provide valuable data and analytics to measure and define the likely impacts of climate change on the terrorism landscape.
Climate change will be the most impactful global issue of our time, and because negative outcomes are inevitable, it is critical that we invest now in a dedicated research agenda to help governments, the private sector and communities to direct resources effectively to treat, transfer or terminate risks. This study represents a critical and pragmatic contribution focused on implications for human and economic security. In truth, we are already observing violence, criminality, and terrorism brought about directly and indirectly by climate change; this study will therefore serve as a call to action on an urgent issue.
Bill Braniff, Director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)
We are delighted to partner with START, who already hold a distinguished reputation in the field of terrorism research. Pool Re is pleased to promote this as one of the initiatives to highlight and provide a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities the industry is facing. The threats and risks connected to climate change cannot simply be measured by natural disasters or extreme weather events. Climate change is causing poverty, destabilisation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale, all of which could lead to some serious challenges as regards terrorism if we don’t tackle climate change.
Julian Enoizi, Pool Re CEO and IFTRIP Secretariat
More about Start
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism—better known as START—is a university-based research and education center comprised of an international network of scholars committed to the scientific study of the causes and human consequences of terrorism in the United States and around the world.
A Department of Homeland Security Emeritus Center of Excellence headquartered at the
University of Maryland, START supports the research efforts of leading social scientists at more than 50 academic and research institutions, each of whom is conducting original investigations into fundamental questions about terrorism.
START experts apply a range of research methods to the exploration of these questions in order to deliver findings based on the best available open-source evidence and data. At the heart of START’s work are the principles that the research it is conducting must be both scientifically rigorous and directly relevant to homeland security professionals.
START is a part of the collection of
Centers of Excellence supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate and also receives funding and support from a variety of Federal agencies, private foundations, and universities. All of START’s research is conducted using non-classified materials and its findings are those of individual researchers and do not reflect the official position of any START funders.
More About IFTRIP
IFTRIP – the International Forum for Terrorism Risk (Re)Insurance Pools was established in 2016 with the goals of promoting initiatives for closer international collaboration and sharing expertise and experience to combat the threat of economic loss resulting from terrorism. The Forum is made up of the largest gathering of international terrorism reinsurance pools, insurers, reinsurers, academics and thought leaders in the industry. As the threat from terrorism becomes increasingly international, and a world order reliant on a geopolitical equilibrium is increasingly undermined, IFTRIP’s gathering momentum and growing participation is not only encouraging, but essential.
Central to the work of the Forum is an annual global conference, where a highly distinguished set of speakers, with expertise and experience from a broad range of sectors and disciplines share findings, thoughts, initiatives and best practice.
IFTRIP recognises global terrorism has become a more complicated and diffuse threat than ever before, and requires a broad church to come together to understand it and unite against ideologies which above all seeks to de-stabilise and divide. Reinsurance Pools must continue to adapt in order to remain relevant and valuable to the countries and markets they serve. As such, many of the conversations at the conferences revolve around emerging or emergent risks such as cyber, CBRN, and climate change and how technological advances in modelling capabilities can help to bridge coverage gaps.
