Photo: Ou Xue

China 'Blue Insurance' is here! The insurance industry joins hands with the marine economy

CHINA
Friday, December 09, 2022, 08:00 (GMT + 9)

• Following the green insurance, "blue insurance" has also entered the public's field of vision.

• With the recent holding of the 2022 China Ocean Economy Expo, blue economy and blue finance have become hot topics of discussion, and at the same time, blue insurance has entered the vision of more people.

• As mentioned in the "Opinions", strive to 2025, the scale of blue insurance will continue to grow rapidly, and innovations in blue financial products and service models will continue to emerge, forming a batch of experience and practices that can be replicated and promoted to create blue financial innovation and development in Shenzhen sample.

On November 29, four departments including the Shenzhen Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau jointly issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Blue Finance in Shenzhen's Banking and Insurance Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). Among them, the concept of "blue insurance" was proposed for the first time in China.

The so-called "blue insurance" is a part of "blue finance", which refers to the insurance business insurance related to the marine economy. Specifically, it includes promoting the establishment and improvement of the marine fishery insurance subsidy system; supporting the construction of the marine ecological environment and accelerating the development of blue Carbon sink insurance; explore the establishment of marine catastrophe insurance and reinsurance mechanisms; accelerate the development of shipping insurance, etc.; expand the coverage of export credit insurance in the marine field, etc., and encourage insurance institutions to develop new models according to the emerging business forms of the marine economy and the special needs of sea-related enterprises. Insurance Products.

A series of measures to promote the accelerated "marriage" of the insurance industry and the marine economy. He Xiaowei, head of the Department of Risk Management and Insurance, School of Insurance, University of International Business and Economics, told the financial analysis of Caijing.com that many of the types of insurance mentioned this time are not the first, but the biggest highlight is that it systematizes all risks and insurance products related to the marine economy. , and carried out a kind of combing by category. These ideas also reflect a breakthrough for finance and insurance to better serve the blue economy. The implementation of blue insurance needs to be realized under the background of "blue finance" in which banks and other financial institutions participate. Local governments should provide supporting measures and increase publicity efforts to make financial companies realize that they can find business opportunities and achieve win-win results in the wave of "blue finance".

"Blue carbon" insurance helps optimize the marine ecological environment

On the basis of perfect subsidies for traditional marine fishery insurance, the blueprint for intensive marine high-quality development also cannot avoid the figure of "blue insurance".

Yuan Shuai said that the proposal of this concept is a huge historical market opportunity for insurance industry institutions. The insurance industry actively participates in the "blue" marine field, researches and develops and promotes services and financial products in related fields. On the other hand, it is also an opportunity for insurance industry institutions to develop new market growth points, and it is a positive situation of joint construction, win-win, joint creation and sharing.

Under the background of dual carbon, "blue carbon" insurance has also become a popular insurance that has attracted much attention. It is understood that "blue carbon" refers to the ocean carbon sink, which refers to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the carbon sink function of marine organisms. Seagrass beds, mangroves, and salt marshes are known as the three coastal "blue carbon" ecosystems, and innovations in the insurance industry are mainly focused on these.

Taking seagrass beds as an example, due to the characteristics of large carbon sequestration capacity, high carbon sequestration efficiency and long carbon storage period, the carbon sequestration capacity of seagrass beds can reach more than twice that of forests. However, due to the changeable marine climate and the lack of scientific and effective risk management and avoidance methods, once disasters such as typhoons and red tides occur, large areas of seagrass beds are often damaged, and the benefits of carbon sequestration are not effectively guaranteed.

In May of this year, the first domestic commercial "seagrass bed carbon sink index insurance" was successfully launched in Weihai City. This type of insurance takes seagrass beds as the subject of insurance, uses the surplus value of seagrass carbon sinks as the compensation basis, and takes the carbon sink weakening event caused by changes in the specific marine environment of seagrass beds as the insurance liability. When the seawater flow rate reaches or exceeds the agreed threshold, it is regarded as an insurance event of seagrass bed carbon sink weakening. The insurance company's compensation will be used for post-disaster rescue and ecological protection and restoration of seagrass bed carbon sink resources. Professional households, cooperatives, and aquatic enterprises engaged in the cultivation of seagrass beds can be insured.

In addition, after the seagrass bed carbon sink index insurance, the first domestic fishery carbon sink index insurance developed by China Life Insurance landed in Weihai again, mainly targeting "oyster" products.

It is understood that oyster farming can not only effectively eliminate seawater eutrophication and solve the pollution problem caused by the seawater aquaculture industry, but also has a strong carbon capture effect. Information shows that more than 95% of oyster shells are composed of calcium carbonate. It is estimated that each mu of oysters can fix about 1.4 tons of carbon per year. However, due to the changeable marine climate, once marine disasters such as waves and red tides occur, oysters are often damaged, and there is no effective guarantee for industrial development and carbon sequestration.

According to China Life Property & Casualty Insurance, the oyster carbon sink index insurance launched this time fills the gap in the carbon sink index insurance for seafood farming, enabling shellfish farming, a green industry, to obtain dual risk protection for marine carbon sinks and production and operation. China Life Property & Casualty Insurance can give up to 1.6 million yuan in risk compensation for the carbon sink and industrial losses of the 800 mu of oysters participating in the insurance due to changes in the specific marine environment.

A number of insurance companies keep moving. In June, Taiping Property & Casualty mentioned above also developed the country's first "policy shellfish marine carbon sink index insurance"; The county landed and provided a total of 6 million yuan of insurance policies for more than 2,000 mu of oysters cultivated by 7 local farmers.

Source: Wei Lu / Caijing.com (translated from original in chinese)

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www.seafood.media

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