{"id":374100,"date":"2025-04-07T16:39:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T14:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=374100"},"modified":"2025-04-07T16:39:45","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T14:39:45","slug":"claim-the-climate-crisis-is-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=374100","title":{"rendered":"Claim: The Climate Crisis is On Track to Destroy Capitalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c\u2026 Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets \u2013 and civilisation itself \u2013 can operate \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets \u2013 and civilisation itself \u2013 can operate, says senior Allianz figure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damian Carrington<\/a> Environment editorThu 3 Apr 2025 20.41 AEDT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The climate crisis is on track to destroy capitalism, a top insurer has warned, with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the financial sector unable to operate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks, said G\u00fcnther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world\u2019s biggest insurance companies. He said that without insurance, which is already being pulled in some places, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global carbon emissions are still rising and current policies will result in a rise in global temperature<\/a> between 2.2C and 3.4C above pre-industrial levels. The damage at 3C will be so great that governments will be unable to provide financial bailouts and it will be impossible to adapt to many climate impacts, said Thallinger, who is also the chair of the German company\u2019s investment board and was previously CEO of Allianz Investment Management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/apr\/03\/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Allianz Insurance Board Member G\u00fcnther Thallinger\u2019s original post on Linked In;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Climate, Risk, Insurance: The Future of Capitalism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

G\u00fcnther Thallinger<\/a>
Allianz SE
March 25, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CO\u2082 emissions directly increase the amount of energy trapped in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. This is not a vague or future issue\u2014it is physical reality. The more emissions, the more energy retained. The more energy, the more extremely the atmosphere behaves. Storms intensify. Heatwaves last longer. Rain falls harder. Droughts cut deeper. This is the first principle.

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The insurance industry has historically managed these risks. But we are fast approaching temperature levels\u20141.5\u00b0C, 2\u00b0C, 3\u00b0C\u2014where insurers will no longer be able to offer coverage for many of these risks. The math breaks down: the premiums required exceed what people or companies can pay. This is already happening. Entire regions are becoming uninsurable. (See: State Farm and Allstate exiting California\u2019s home insurance market due to wildfire risk, 2023).

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we reach 3\u00b0C of warming, the situation locks in. Atmospheric energy at this level will persist for 100+ years due to carbon cycle inertia and the absence of scalable industrial carbon removal technologies. There is no known pathway to return to pre-2\u00b0C conditions. (See: IPCC AR6, 2023; NASA Earth Observatory: \u201cThe Long-Term Warming Commitment\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point, risk cannot be transferred (no insurance), risk cannot be absorbed (no public capacity), and risk cannot be adapted to (physical limits exceeded). That means no more mortgages, no new real estate development, no long-term investment, no financial stability. The financial sector as we know it ceases to function. And with it, capitalism as we know it ceases to be viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/climate-risk-insurance-future-capitalism-g\u00fcnther-thallinger-smw5f\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

G\u00fcnther doesn\u2019t go into detail about how Capitalism will solve the alleged climate crisis in his main article, but one of the comments and answers associated with the article is revealing.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vincent Huck \u2022 3rd+<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor at Insurance Asset Risk & Corporate Disclosures<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks Guenther, can the only two levers you mention truely be achieved without de-growth? (Which wouldn\u2019t be very capitalistic)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replies on Vincent Huck\u2019s comment<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

G\u00fcnther Thallinger AuthorAllianz SE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Vincent Huck<\/a> I believe we need to rethink the concept of growth.<\/strong> A starting point should be that financial information and sustainability information (regular reporting, quality assured) are integrated. This may help us to quickly switch away from an extractive to a regenerative and no waste economy.<\/strong> Growth of such an economy may actually be very wanted.Read more: Same link as above<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The no waste economy proposed by G\u00fcnther Thallinger is a fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday I had to change all four tires on my 4WD, because they wore out in just a couple of years \u2013 road maintenance in my corner of Australia is somewhat neglected. The roads also wear out quickly in Queensland, thanks to decades of government neglect and our tropical climate \u2013 and the high proportion of drivers who embrace the safety of driving rugged 4WD vehicles, because of the state of the roads and because of the high risk of surprise animal encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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