Application closing date: 23 March
The IFoA is seeking to appoint both members and suitably experienced non-members to join the newly formed Climate Sensitivity Working Party. The group will engage in a deeper exploration of climate science and the potential mitigants to accelerating global warming.
Uncertainties remain in estimating the sensitivity of the Earth’s climate to changes in greenhouse gas concentration. The working party will build on the IFoA’s ‘Planetary Solvency’ work. This highlighted the importance of bringing a risk-based (as opposed to best estimate) approach to tracking climate change and the threat it poses to humanity.
The working party will review the work of, and engage directly with, scientists working on research to better understand climate sensitivity. Its aim will be to bring that work to the attention of practising actuaries and policymakers.
The working party will also separately consider potential actions to prevent accelerating climate change, within a risk framework. This framework will balance the costs of increased physical climate risks, if global warming is allowed to continue, with the costs, benefits and risks of taking those actions. The aim will be to present on these two parallel work-streams at the life and general insurance actuarial conferences in November 2025.
If the first two parallel work streams are successful, a third workstream will begin in 2026. It will work back from the identified higher climate sensitivity scenarios and estimate an implied carbon budget to achieve desired climate change targets. If this carbon budget is negative (implying removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere), then the working party will explore the technological and nature-based options needed to arrive at a sustainable future.
To read more about the working party, see its terms of reference (PDF, 230 KB)
The time commitment varies but will not be more than a maximum of 8 hours per month. The working group will consist of regular meetings, every 2 to 4 weeks, with peaks expected in the early exploratory and later delivery stages.
If you are interested in this role and would like an informal conversation before applying, please email us at engagement.team@actuaries.org.uk.
If you have read all the above and would like to apply, please send us:
Please email all the above to engagement.team@actuaries.org.uk. Please note, we are unable to accept late applications.
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