Innovation, Insurability and Sustainable Development: Sharing Risk Management between Insurers and the State

Both the public and the private sectors have responsibilities for managing the risks associated with new technologies. This article is about the interplay between three key concepts: the insurability of risk; innovation; and the broader framework of sustainable development. It is based on the recent EU INTEREST project which addressed the role the insurance sector and insurance-based mechanisms might play in relation to innovation which promotes, or challenges, sustainable development. The project cast light on three issues: opportunities for promoting sustainable development through innovation by adjusting or sharing the responsibilities of private sector actors, regulators and policymakers; promoting sustainable development innovation by using risk management mechanisms from insurance in other domains or by the insurance sector using a wider set of tools to manage novel risks; and policy options for the complementary use of insurance-related and other risk management mechanisms.