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January 9, 2017

AXA Chair for assessing weather hazards

Joaquim Pinto is a meteorologist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Since December 1, 2016, thanks to the support of the AXA Research Fund, he has coordinated a Research Chair on regional climate and weather hazards, such as natural disaster risks.

Natural disasters made 2016 the costliest 12 months in the last four years. Although causing fewer deaths than in other years (8,700 lives lost, the lowest number of fatalities in 30 years, not including 2014), the cumulative cost of these catastrophes was high. Storm, floods and earthquakes around the world generated losses totalling $175 billion*.

Professor Joaquim Pinto is working to uncover the connections between climate risks and extreme weather events, like floods, storms and cold and heat waves, in Europe. “We are studying not only the physical processes that lead to extreme weather events but also the natural variability of their frequency and intensity,” said Professor Pinto.

With his team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Joaquim Pinto is developing methods to analyze and quantify the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. This research will help to assess the risks associated with natural hazards to better prepare for them, now and in the future.

Since 2013, AXA has been a member of UNISDR’s Private Sector Advisory Group, through the presence of Philippe Derieux, Deputy CEO of AXA Global P&C. Alongside more than 140 private-sector companies, UNISDR aims to create risk-resilient societies by collaborating with the public sector and civil society stakeholders.

Luc de Lignières, P&C Risk Director for the AXA Group, is the sponsor of this research chair. “The AXA Chair on weather hazards will strengthen collaboration between the research and insurance sectors, especially by sharing knowledge to better understand the risks associated with weather hazards.”

AXA is providing support of €1.8 million over 13 years to the Chair held by Professor Pinto.

About the AXA Research Fund

The AXA Research Fund was created by the AXA Group in 2007 to support outstanding risk research projects contributing to risk prevention and to share this knowledge with the broadest possible audience. In its nine years of existence, the AXA Research Fund has committed more than €149 million to finance 492 research projects in 33 countries and to help researchers better inform public dialogue on climate, socio-economic and healthcare issues.

AXA’s commitments to research institutions in Germany currently total €6.5 million. The AXA Research Fund also supports Adam Sobel, who is studying the relationship between climate change and extreme weather events, and Kerry Sieh, who holds a research chair on natural hazards and is drawing a comprehensive panorama of natural disasters in Southeast Asia.

*Source: Munich Re

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