California Insurance Commissioner signs Paris Pledge for Action

News: 2015 Press Release

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has joined global leaders to address the threat of climate change by signing the Paris Pledge for Action. By joining the Pledge, Commissioner Jones joins cities, regions, businesses, investors, civil society groups, trade unions, and others to recognize that climate change threatens our ability and the ability of future generations to live and thrive in a peaceful and prosperous world, and that taking strong action to reduce emissions can not only reduce the risks of climate change but also deliver better growth and sustainable development.

“Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity. With the Paris Pledge for Action, we join other leaders in pledging to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve resilience with regard to climate change impacts,” said Commissioner Jones. "Insurers and insurance regulators have an important role to pay in addressing the risk of climate change."

As a national leader on climate change and insurance regulation, Commissioner Jones organized and leads the multi-state insurance regulators annual climate risk survey of all major U.S. insurance companies, allowing regulators, insurance companies and interested members of the public the ability to identify trends, vulnerabilities and best practices with regard to how the insurance industry is responding to climate change. Jones’ leadership was recently recognized by the G-20 Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body of national financial regulators and ministries of finance that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. The FSB invited the Commissioner to its September meeting in London to make a presentation on United States insurance industry climate change disclosure requirements. After this meeting, the FSB announced the formation of a disclosure task force on climate-related financial risks.

Recently, Commissioner Jones attended COP21, the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, where he met with other financial regulators and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) to further his work regarding insurers and climate risk.

Media Notes: 

• A copy of the Paris Pledge for Action is available at parispledgeforaction.org.
• Commissioner Jones leads a multi-state insurance regulators group that administers an annual climate risk survey annually of more than 1,000 companies that write more than $100 million in premium, capturing approximately 77 percent of the entire U.S. insurance market.
• Survey results are available on the California Department of Insurance website.