Rob Bailey, Director of Climate Resilience at Marsh & McLennan Insights
When PG&E filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, The Wall Street Journal dubbed it the "first climate change bankruptcy." The California power utility was facing USD 30 billion in potential liabilities following a series of devastating wildfires linked to its equipment -- wildfires made more likely by a prolonged period of hot, dry weather that had reduced the surrounding forests to tinder and which scientists have since attributed to climate change.
PG&E may well be the largest corporate casualty of climate change, but it is not the first. Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather around the world, and other businesses have fallen victim to these trends.