About 15 years ago, Dave Jones was one of the few voices urging the insurance industry to take climate change seriously. Back then, most insurers shrugged off the issue, seeing climate risks as distant concerns and not connecting them to their business. Today, the picture looks very different. Insurers across the U.S. and the world now recognize climate change as a real threat, facing more frequent and severe weather events that put their portfolios at risk.
Jones, who served eight years as California’s insurance commissioner, played a key role in raising awareness about climate risks within the insurance world. Early in his term starting in 2011, he found that few insurers were addressing climate change in their policies or planning. Despite resistance — especially from those unwilling to consider reducing fossil fuel investments or underwriting related projects — Jones pushed for better data collection and transparency. He helped launch programs that brought together state regulators to gather and share information on insurers’ climate exposure.
Since leaving office in 2019, Jones has kept up this work. He leads the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, focusing on how financial markets can respond to climate risks. Before that, he worked with The Nature Conservancy, developing innovative insurance products that protect natural features like coral reefs and forests, which in turn reduce community risks from storms and wildfires.
One example is a new wildfire resilience insurance policy placed for the Tahoe Donner Association, a large homeowners group in Northern California. This policy covers over 1,300 acres of managed forest and rewards efforts like tree thinning and controlled burns that lower wildfire danger. Thanks to this approach, the group saw a 39% cut in premiums and an 84% drop in deductibles. This is a rare win, as many insurers still don’t factor forest management into their models and often refuse coverage in wildfire-prone areas.
California’s homeowners insurance market has been hit hard by climate-fueled wildfires and other risks. Many carriers have stopped writing new policies or hikes rates steeply, pushing residents toward last-resort options. Jones blames rising global temperatures and reduced forest management for worsening conditions. While recent regulatory changes in California aim to include reinsurance costs and catastrophe models in rates, Jones warns that growing climate risks may outpace what regulation alone can fix.
Looking beyond California, Jones points to a rise in severe convective storms as another climate-related threat increasingly impacting insurers. Costs from such storms have surged, leading insurers in states like Iowa to pull back on coverage.
Jones supports stronger laws that require insurers to factor in property-specific risk reduction efforts. Colorado’s House Bill 1182, which demands insurers share their risk models with regulators and reward mitigation actions, is an example he calls a crucial step.
Despite his deep ties to public service, Jones says he has no plans to return to politics. Instead, he wants to keep pushing for a net-zero economy and more climate-aware financial systems from outside government.
Jones’ journey shows how the insurance industry’s view of climate change has shifted dramatically. From ignoring the problem to creating new insurance solutions that reward risk reduction, the work he started years ago continues to influence change, offering hope that financial tools can help communities better withstand climate risks.