The article highlights a recent move by losses-from-extreme-weather-jump-727-to-aud4-8bn/”>Australian Ethical Investment to demand greater transparency from QBE Insurance regarding climate-related risks.
Through a shareholder resolution filed with the SIX platform and backed by roughly 100 investors, the fund seeks to understand how climate change could affect QBE’s insurance book and the pathways through which physical climate impacts might influence the company’s prospects.
The piece also covers QBE’s response, the broader industry context of rising catastrophe losses, and how investors are weighing these disclosures and governance questions.
Raising climate risk visibility in the insurance sector
For insurers, climate risk is no longer a peripheral concern but a central governance and financial issue.
Swiss Re and other market observers report that annual natural catastrophe losses have exceeded $100 billion for six consecutive years, driven by floods, wildfires, and storms.
This backdrop means investors increasingly scrutinize underwriting practices, portfolio composition, and the quality of physical risk disclosures.
Australian Ethical Investment argues that clarifying the climate viability of QBE’s current insurance book could influence risk management decisions and capital allocation.
What Australian Ethical Investment is asking for
Australian Ethical Investment holds about A$65 million of QBE shares and has filed a shareholder resolution with the SIX platform, aiming for an annual assessment of climate risk and clearer disclosures.
The fund wants specifics on:
- the portion of QBE’s current insurance book that is “not viable from a climate perspective,”
- the concrete pathways by which physical climate change could affect QBE’s prospects, and
- enhanced, ongoing climate risk disclosures aligned with best practices such as the TCFD framework.
QBE’s stance and risk posture
QBE Insurance responded in March, arguing that the resolution misunderstands its business model, product structure, and portfolio optimization strategies.
The company asserts it has exited underperforming property portfolios and recalibrated retained lines, aiming to keep catastrophe losses at or below established allowances in recent years.
On the numbers, QBE projects a net annual average loss for climate-related perils of about $654 million in 2026, representing roughly 5% of the group’s net claims.
In 2025, the insurer reported catastrophe claims of $751 million linked to hurricanes, tropical cyclones, floods across North America, Europe and Australia, and California wildfires including Hurricane Melissa.
This risk profile underscores the ongoing exposure insurers face as climate-driven disasters become more frequent and intense.
Industry context and investor sentiment
The case sits within a broader industry trend.
Insurers globally confront rising floods, wildfires, and disasters, with sustained high levels of catastrophe activity prompting some firms to limit or withdraw coverage in high-risk markets.
Data from Swiss Re supports the scale of the challenge, while Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) noted that QBE’s disclosure on physical underwriting risks does not appear to lag peers.
The Australian Shareholders’ Association recommended voting against the climate-related resolution, illustrating the diversity of investor viewpoints on the best path to enhanced transparency and risk management.
Implications for insurers and markets
- Increased demand for robust, standardized climate risk disclosures from underwriters and insureds alike.
- Greater emphasis on portfolio stress testing, scenario analysis, and alignment with international reporting standards.
- Potential changes in underwriting decisions and capital allocation as investors weigh climate viability alongside returns.
- Political and regulatory momentum that could incentivize more transparent, annual assessments of physical climate risk.
For a scientific and financial audience, climate risk governance is becoming a material, ongoing governance issue for insurance companies.
Transparent, rigorous disclosure and proactive risk management are increasingly essential to maintaining market trust.
These practices are also key to securing capital and pricing risk in a volatile climate landscape.
Here is the source article for this story: Insurer QBE Faces Investor Pressure Over Extreme Weather Risks