A recent study by the AXA Group, conducted among 1104 owners of SMEs in Europe, America and Asia, found that 59% of surveyed companies have been affected by events related to climate change.
This proportion increased to 66% in emerging countries. Despite such exposure, only 26% of questioned entrepreneurs said they had established an anti-disaster plan.
The managers of companies stated that in the short and long term, their focus is more on financial market instability and data protection. In the UK and the US, 40% of companies surveyed have already decided that they have no intention to develop a plan to guard against possible disasters related to climate change.
During the last decade, there were, on average, each year, nearly 785 natural disasters worldwide. Economic losses related to these events were estimated by Swiss Re to 180 billion USD per year, 70% of which are not insured. The shortfall for insurers is estimated at 1289 billion USD.