The president of the Reinsurance Association of America testified before Congress that promoting natural resource conservation and encouraging more risk mitigation in densely populated areas are keys to managing risk and the costs associated with them.

In a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife on Managing Ocean and Wildlife Resources, Franklin W. Nutter said “the degree to which our coastal areas have been urbanized and the increasing value of risk – higher property values in higher risk area” necessitate federal intervention on risk mitigation.

“The importance of risk management to the conservation of our ocean, coastal ecosystems, and wildlife resources in an increasingly unpredictable environment should be abundantly obvious,” Nutter said. “To the best of our ability, we must use nature to protect ecosystems that provide natural “buffers” to storms by renewing efforts to preserve coastal areas consistent with effective state and federal laws.”

He testified that the Coastal Zone Management Act “could provide a tool to ensure states are planning for the potential risks posed by the impacts of climate change.” He said the CZMA, when coupled with State Hazard Mitigation Plans required by the Stafford Act and approved by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, could provide states with “the planning tools they need to develop and implement a climate adaptation plan.”

He called on Congress and others involved to work together to “ensure environmentally-sound and fiscally-responsible policy that will ultimately reduce the costs borne by federal, state and local governments, by insurers and reinsurers, and the American taxpayers, as well as save lives, protect habitats, and ensure our coastal areas thrive for generations to come.”