Insurance

Our final Alexander Hamilton Award of 2022—the Gold Award in Risk Management—goes to: Bristol Myers Squibb. Congratulations!

Insurance is the "Achilles heel" of the fossil-fuel industry, with the power to drive climate change progress, because projects are unlikely to attract capital if they can't get insurance.

"If there's a direct-hit Category 5 storm that hits Miami, you're going to see 20 insurance companies go bankrupt. ... It's become a big problem."

Failing to develop strong ESG initiatives may result in limited access to capital and lost business opportunities.

Companies should perform a thorough review of business practices and how they could give rise to intellectual property exposure, and also consult with their insurance broker on how to insure against risks.

Public companies and their stakeholders often struggle with effective environmental, social and governance programs in the absence of clear and common standards and regulations. But the landscape is rapidly changing in a way that will likely impose new risks and costs on companies.