WASHINGTON, March 2 (TNSRep) — The American Property and Casualty Insurance Association issued the following press release:

“As the we grappling with the prospect of increased frequency and severity of major natural disasters such as forest fires, more action is needed. The recent UN The report, “Spreading Like Wildfire”, highlights many important points related to the growing risk of wildfires around the world and here in the we

“APCIA supports many of the conclusions of the UNThe new report from Reuters, which aligns closely with several issues that insurers have long championed. This includes, for example, increased investment in planning, prevention and recovery.

“Through the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Securitythe we The insurance industry continues to be at the forefront of research to understand how to mitigate risk to reduce future losses, whether from wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes or any other natural disaster. industry, through the Institute of Business and Home Security Insurance (IBHS), has studied wildfire risk and related losses for more than a decade, resulting in a comprehensive set of roadmaps available to homeowners to help them reduce their risk. . However, to make communities more resilient, policy makers need to focus on issues such as stronger and better enforced building codes, better land use planning, resilient infrastructure, upgrading existing infrastructure and reduction of fuel load in areas at risk of forest fires.

“Furthermore, the insurance industry supports the report’s conclusion that governments and communities should increase the sharing of data, information and analytics to improve forecasting and learning. Insurers continue to advocate for increased access to new tools and technologies to better model catastrophic risk that incorporates future impacts, such as climate change, as well as updating public fire hazard maps, more climate risk disclosures for individual properties and the ability to set insurance rates that signal where risk is high.

“The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) showed that for each $1 spent on mitigating natural hazards in the construction of new codes, it can save $11 in repair and disaster recovery costs.

“Residents in high-risk areas also have a role to play by taking measures such as removing combustible materials within 5 feet of their homes, removing debris from roofs and gutters, sealing the garage door and no piling of wood, debris, or flammable materials near their home, deck, or fence.Wildfire preparedness is a community effort, and we encourage residents to work with their neighbors and involving them in the preparation because, in the end, their risk is your risk. Residents can also make a difference by becoming more financially prepared for natural disasters such as wildfires. It starts with the reviewing your insurance policy with your agent on an annual basis to ensure that you have the right amount and the right types of coverage.

“Finally, the report highlights the importance of sharing data, information and analysis to improve forecasting and learning. as well as updating public fire risk maps, increasing climate risk disclosures for individual properties, and enabling insurers to provide critical signals through risk-based pricing.

“As wildfires continue to grow in size and devastation across the we and overseas, it has never been more important for consumers and policy makers to focus on being prepared and reducing the likelihood of property damage.

“APCIA also applauded the recent 10-year strategy announced by the Biden administration, addressing the wildfire crisis – “A Strategy to Protect Communities and Improve the Resilience of America’s Forests.” This strategy calls for the Forest Service to expand treatments on national forests and grasslands to reduce wildfire risk, in addition to investing in fire-adapted communities and working to address post-fire risk, recovery and reforestation.

The threat of climate change is very real, and as wildfires continue to escalate across the we and abroad, APCIA will continue to work with all stakeholders to help address the challenges these communities face.

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REPORT: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/38372/wildfire_RRA.pdf__;!!FU6Mc1g!BvPto8AsKlvyNBIPf9tTm18wXu7UfBjo9XBMg1BMgOlcfoiUfYkrUC_PoY6nksaK31k