Event Details
Wednesday, August 2, 2023, 9:00-10:30 AM (HKT, GMT+8)
Wednesday, August 2, 2023, 13:00-14:30 AM (NZST)
About This Event
This webinar is 90 minutes.
This webinar is complimentary to non-North American audiences in the CAS.
Coastal inundation is a key peril for government and the insurance and banking industries to consider in the face of climate change. This webinar examines New Zealand’s experience with coastal inundation, along with how this can be modelled for an insurance context. With almost 1 in 5 dwellings in New Zealand located within 500 metres of the coast and this peril being covered by standard homeowners’ insurance, this is an issue that will affect insurers, policyholders and the country as a whole.
We will also consider how coastal inundation affects other parts of the world, focusing particularly on the wider Asia-Pacific region. As well as examining the drivers of risk in different locations, we will consider the mitigation measures that have been implemented, and how well these manage the increasing risk.
Key Messages
- Coastal inundation is a peril that affects large parts of the Asia Pacific region.
- It is an important peril for the insurance industry to understand, especially in the context of a changing climate.
- In order to account for the risk this peril poses, high quality modelling at an address level is essential.
- Different mitigation techniques can be used to reduce the risk it poses to human life and the built environment.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the drivers of coastal inundation and how climate change impacts these.
- Consider modelling approaches and understand what makes a good model.
- Understand options for mitigating against coastal inundation and their costs and benefits.
This webinar is complimentary to non-North American audiences who are part of the CAS and the CIA. The webinar will be conducted over GotoWebinar. The link to enter the webinar will be sent two hours prior to the webinar taking place. Please make sure to test your system.
Sarah Elsey has fifteen years of experience in general insurance. She has a special interest in the pricing of natural perils and managed the conversion to address level peril rating for a large Australian-based insurer. More recently she has worked on peril and climate modelling in New Zealand and Australia’s cyclone reinsurance pool.
Dr Scott Stephens is a coastal-hazards scientist with a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Waikato. He joined NIWA in 2001 and specialises in extreme sea-level and wave analysis and assessment of coastal hazards for adaptation to sea-level rise. From 2019-21 Scott was an assistant regional manager, undertaking a wide range of NIWA's activities operations and science delivery. In 2021 he became Chief Scientist, overseeing NIWA's science strategy and delivery for Coasts & Estuaries.
Connor Sullivan is an actuarial student who is interested in personal lines pricing and natural perils. These areas allow him to solve challenging, present-day problems with statistical and geospatial analyses. He has recently used these skills to help develop a riverine/surface water flood model and a coastal flood model of New Zealand.
Emma Vitz is an associate actuary working primarily in personal lines pricing and natural perils and climate risk assessment in New Zealand and Australia. She has spoken widely on the topic, including appearing on Q+A New Zealand and RNZ following the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. Emma enjoys the geospatial analysis involved in this area of insurance, as well as the challenge of communicating complex topics to a variety of audiences.
