Climate Change and Iceland's Risk-Sharing System for Natural Disasters

Natural disasters can have serious consequences which differ between countries. Local conditions, therefore, have to be considered when discussing risk sharing for natural disasters. This study focuses on the natural catastrophe insurance system in Iceland with a special focus on climate change and the public and private insurance system, as such a study has not been carried out previously. Findings are placed in Nordic and European contexts, suggesting that the Icelandic insurance system with regard to natural disasters is rather complex. Furthermore, land-use planning seems to be a key issue for the public insurance sector, while low climate change awareness concerns the private sector. Policymakers and authorities in other countries can benefit from the study, e.g. integration of public systems for risk analysis and assessment of financial risks. The learning point for Icelandic policymakers and insurance companies is that the risk of flooding is uninsured in some cases, which may be of concern as more flooding is expected due to climate change.