Economic and environmental risks need to be dealt with across a range of industries and organisations, according to industry experts speaking at the World Economic Forum’s latest global risk briefing.

“Coping with the economic and climate change crises is, unfortunately, no longer seen as a continuum but as opposing choices,” Swiss Re Group CRO David Cole says in the report.

“We need to go beyond this thinking-in-boxes approach.”

Oliver Wyman CEO John Drzik agrees. “If we don’t allocate the resources needed to mitigate the rising risk of severe weather events, global prosperity for generations could be threatened.”

Insurers can help by providing cover, using data to manage risks and being involved in dialogue on construction in coastal areas, Zurich CRO Axel Lehmann says.

“We will see more insurance products that will cover several dimensions of risk and have a much more holistic aspect than just, ‘We insure against fire’ or ‘We insure against theft’. But the risk must be calculable.”