Australia’s banking and insurance regulator has estimated the country should be spending about $3.5bn a year to limit damage from climate-related natural disasters, warning the cost of responding to them after the fact is likely to be 11 times greater.

© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: James Gourley/AAP

In a speech on Wednesday, Geoff Summerhayes, an executive board member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, said the cost of pre-emptive action to avoid the impact of disasters exacerbated by the climate crisis was far cheaper than dealing with the aftermath.

Addressing the issue of rising insurance premiums in northern Australia due to an increasing number of claims caused by storms and cyclones, Summerhayes said Apra was concerned general insurance could become unaffordable or unavailable in parts of the country.

He said it heightened the need to both cut greenhouse gas emissions and increase community resilience to extreme climate events, such