Aon has reported that insured losses from natural disasters reached a 10-year high of $42 billion in the first half of 2021, but overall economic losses came in below the 10-year average. The US accounted for 72% of the losses.

Sales of luxury real estate remain strong, despite wildfires, flooding and other climate-related risks in key markets, including Colorado, California and South Florida. Climate change "doesn't discourage development, and I think it shifts the mix from affordable to more expensive," such as higher-end housing replacing middle-class properties after Superstorm Sandy, says Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of appraiser Miller Samuel.

Commercial real estate deal activity in the second quarter surpassed average transaction volume trends during the same period from 2015 to 2019 by 14%, according to Real Capital Analytics. "In a sign of market strength, it was the sale of individual assets rather than portfolio and entity-level deals which spurred the growth," RCA noted.

Weather, climate and water hazards were responsible for half of all disasters, 45% of all reported deaths and nearly three-quarters of economic losses in the past 50 years, a report from the World Meteorological Organization says. The top 10 disasters of the last five decades include droughts, which killed approximately 650,000 people; storms, which claimed 577,000 lives; and floods and temperature extremes, which killed 59,000 and 56,000 people, respectively.

The Senate has voted 67-32 to advance an infrastructure bill that would include $550 billion in new spending and would repurpose $205 billion in unused pandemic aid. Many details still need to be worked out, but the new spending would cover items including roads, bridges, rail systems, power grids, broadband and climate-friendly technology.

The Santa Barbara City Council in California has passed a ban on natural gas in any new construction. The city joins San Francisco and Los Angeles in bans on natural gas, and roughly 45 other cities across the US in enacting some form of limitation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many companies discovered significant vulnerabilities in their supply chains, remote working capabilities, IT management and beyond. Together, these vulnerabilities created a stress test for companies' business continuity management strategies.

Listen to Aon Cyber and Ransomware experts discuss cyberthreats, and how to protect energy companies against ransomware attacks, data breaches and other business interruptions related to cyber and ransomware events. The speakers highlight the costs associated with attacks, emerging risks, and explore how Aon's leading edge cyber and ransomware solutions team helps energy companies navigate these risks on a proactive and reactive basis.