BERLIN, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Citing major losses resulting from natural catastrophes, German reinsurer Munich Re said on Thursday that its net profit in the first half (H1) of 2023 dropped 20.9 percent year-on-year to 2.4 billion euros (2.64 billion U.S. dollars).
While expenses for man-made losses fell to 320 million euros, losses from natural catastrophes more than doubled to 1.3 billion euros, according to Munich Re. At a nominal 600 million euros, the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye were causing the highest expenditure.
In February, many buildings and infrastructure were destroyed in the strongest earthquakes in Türkiye in decades, with magnitudes of up to 7.8. Around 58,000 people in Türkiye and in neighboring Syria lost their lives.
"The earthquake catastrophe in Türkiye and Syria shows how necessary stable, safe buildings are," Munich Re Board member Thomas Blunck said at the end of July, when presenting the figures for natural catastrophes in the first six months of the year.
The floods in Italy in May, which inundated hundreds of thousands of hectares of agricultural land and killed at least 15 people, also caused Munich Re high losses of nominally 200 million euros, according to the company.
In view of the increase in natural disasters due to global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is calling on governments around the world to step up their ambition to meet the 1.5-degree Celsius target of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Between 2011 and 2020, global temperatures already rose by 1.1 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times. "If we act now, we can still secure a livable sustainable future for all," IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee said when presenting the latest climate report in March.
Germany's economy alone is to lose up to 900 billion euros by 2050 due to climate change-related damages, according to a recent study commissioned by ministries in the country. Even in a best-case scenario with only a moderate rise in temperatures, the Europe's largest economy is projected to lose around 280 billion euros in the period.
"Climate change is already having severe economic consequences today," Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Wenzel said. "Every euro invested in climate protection reduces the economic costs that could arise in the future as a result of extreme weather events." (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollar) ■