Minister backs Bermuda as climate risk hub

Bermuda is set to become the world’s centre for climate risk finance, according to the territory’s Minister of Finance, Curtis L. Dickinson.

Speaking to Susan Pateras, deputy chair of the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), Dickinson said: “Bermuda is known as being the world’s risk capital, and we have an extremely large number of insurance and reinsurance companies here. Many of these companies, especially in the P&C space, provide coverage for catastrophes all over the world. Climate risk is a natural extension of the products these companies have.”

Dickinson’s comments come from the first of a series of webinars by the BDA recorded last month and now  available online. Reflecting on “a year like no other”, the minister discussed a wide range of issues, including the pandemic and Bermuda’s economic recovery plan.

“We’ve certainly been jolted like everywhere else around the world. Our economy has taken a hit, but we’ve always been a place that has tried to find opportunities out of challenges,” he said.

Climate risk finance is one of those areas of opportunity, and Dickinson suggested Bermuda is well placed to take advantage. “This environment is one that’s open to innovation; we have a regulator who is forward-thinking; and we have a number of companies who are seeking to gain a foothold in this space,” he said.

Businesses would enjoy the government’s backing, he suggested. “In as much as we can support the evolution of the climate risk finance space, we think is a natural extension of what we already do today.”

The minister also discussed proposals for a global minimum corporate tax, which he pledged to monitor carefully.

“[W]hat the final product of that exercise will be, is yet to be determined. We will continue our advocacy with respect to how we think this should be done in a way that makes sense, without creating any undue harm.”