Munich Re signs declaration issued by Global Roundtable on Climate Change / Jeworrek: "Climate change calls for speedy action and international coordination"

Munich Re is one of the signatories to the joint declaration issued by the Global Roundtable on Climate Change (GRoCC) in New York City on 20 February. The declaration was signed by around 100 parties, including many international companies as well as public authorities, research institutes and non-governmental organisations.

Launched in 2005 by Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York, the GRoCC is a committee of high ranked experts from numerous international companies and organisations. Munich Re's experts were members from the very beginning. Go to http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/grocc/ for further information on the declaration and the GRoCC.

In this declaration, the international community of states is called upon to work together in order to bring about a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. A central point of the signatories' proposal is the establishment of a global market price mechanism for CO2 emissions. The signatories themselves pledge to pursue sustainable development and to limit their own greenhouse gas emissions.

Board member Torsten Jeworrek: "Things are really moving along now. I was very glad to sign the declaration. Munich Re and its experts have been drawing attention to man-made climate change and its effects since 1973. In the long term, global warming will lead to a further increase in weather-related natural catastrophes, the financial impact of which will have to be borne by insurers and the public. Rapid international action is called for, and the GRoCC declaration is intended to provide an impulse."

In its publications and presentations, Munich Re has been warning about the effects of climate change for more than three decades. Munich Re's Geo Risks Research Department enjoys an excellent international reputation for the work it has done in this context. Besides belonging to the Global Roundtable on Climate Change, Munich Re is a member of similar organisations which have set their sights on averting climate change as far as this is possible.

Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft
signed Dr. Jeworrek           signed Küppers        gez. Küppers