Addressing climate change and industry inefficiencies; “too big for one company to solve”
CelsiusPro CEO Mark Rueegg / The InsurerTV
In an interview with The Insurer TV, CelsiusPro CEO, Mark Rueegg, was asked for his perspective on the climate change issue as well as how the Zurich-based technology firm is enabling the insurance sector to act.
Tackling the financial impact of climate change as well as the inefficiencies of the global insurance industry is "too big for one company to solve" and requires a wider community focus, CelsiusPro Group's chief executive Mark Rueegg has said.
At the beginning of 2025, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 had been the warmest year on record with a global average surface temperature 1.55 degrees Celsius (2.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the target of 1.5 C (2.7 F) detailed in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
"We need to have combined efforts to tackle this problem," Rueegg said.
"This is exactly what CelsiusPro Group does. We tackle two global problems, the global problem of the financial impact of climate change and the global problem of the inefficiencies of the insurance industry."
Established in 2008, CelsiusPro has promoted innovation in climate and natural catastrophe risk transfer products. In September 2023, it acquired London-based Global Parametrics in a bid to strengthen its parametric insurance offerings.
Its current offerings include a white-label platform that allows insures to provide parametric climate and natural catastrophe products without making significant IT and infrastructure investments.
"Traditional insurance is claims based," Rueegg said.
"This basically means that (if) you find yourself in the middle of a disaster... you are supposed to file a claim and prove a loss while you and your entire region struggles with the aftermath of climate change and the natural catastrophe.
"That's clearly not fit for purpose, so when we talk about parametric products, these products act based on triggers measured by independent companies such as NASA and the European Space Agency."
He said the firm is observing an increased uptake in parametric insurance products in the sector but noted it would be "tough" for firms looking to develop such products individually.
"We've been in the market for many, many years (and) basically we have had multiple years of trial and error to build a robust platform that works.
"The problem is too big for one company to solve, that's why we need a community to solve this, and that's why part of what we do is enable the community to tackle this problem."
Watch the full interview: The InsurerTV