Topics requiring research

From February 2003

• Weather
• Flood defences
• Decommissioning - including the costing of externalities; developing a model capturing the different costs and identifying the responsibilities for these costs;
• Ethical Portfolios and their financial benefits and Trustees' fiduciary duties
• Carbon emissions trading - the financial methodology associated with carbon emissions trading
• Fire station locations and the Government's public services modernisation agenda with respect to location of utilities
• Global reporting initiative;
• The environment and health inequailities
• Environmental sustainability
• Water resources and land reclamation
• Preserving the animal population, for example the level of cod stocks in the North Sea. This would entail applying skills in modelling human pupulation to fish population
• Alternative energy sources
• Traffic control and congestion charges
• The use of mobile telephones and their risk to health
• Dirty bombs and their after-effects and the issue of determining more exactly the probabilities of vaguely defined risk

From May 2003

• Quantification of the risk of consumer action, such as boycotting in response to environmental issues and, in relation to investment, as well as prudential advice on the long-term management of assets

• From July 2003

Distribution of fiscal damaged to the UK from various extreme weather events

• From November 2003

The impact of climate change upon actuarial decisions

• From January 2005

Examining alternative methods for risk management modelling, aside the traditional "black box" basis - such as guidelines for fund management approaches and amending the CPD programme to include environmental awareness considerations

• From June 2005

Effects of persistent organic pollutants upon biodiversity and the pricing implications of nuclear decommissioning

Emergence of markets for ecosytem services

Suggested spec for Said MBA dissertation (ns 22/3/06):

“The effect of climate change on the insurance sector”

There is a wide range of literature available on the impacts of climate change on insurance. The major focus has been the increasing trend in claims from extreme events such as hurricanes and floods, and also likely increases in claims from subsidence and loss of business. There has been less research on the impact of climate change on insurance assets and company’s engagement and influence on other stakeholders, such as governments mortgage lenders and energy companies.

The impact of climate change will be felt asymmetrically within the sector depending on lines business and preparedness and this should be explored. Another avenue for research would be the indirect impact on the economy as a whole, for example from increased capital requirements from insurers as they will have to hold larger reserves or after particularly bad years insurers withdrawing from markets (e.g. if hurricane Rita had hit Huston, as was feared, this would have bankrupted a number of reinsurers).