While some people are debating the existence of climate change,reinsurers aren't taking any chances. They are doing a tremendousamount of research and modeling and are creating action plans.

The industry has invested millions in research and is looking atalternative solutions to reducing carbon emissions, such assolar and wind power.

Munich Re, in a press report,"Weather Extremes, Climate Change, Cancun 2010," marking the 16thWorld Climate Summit in Cancun, Mexico, said climate change "is afact, and it is almost entirely made by man."

Munich Re noted that it has been analyzing natural hazards andnatural hazard losses for more than 35 years. For this purpose, thecompany said it has set up the most comprehensive naturalcatastrophe database in the world–currently comprising more than28,000 events.

According to its research, the company said the number of majorweather-related natural catastrophes has tripled since 1980, as hasthe number of floods. Windstorms have more than doubled in number.The first nine months of 2010 saw the second highest number ofclaims from natural hazard events since 1980.

But Munich Re obviously sees some opportunity here. With climatechange in mind, the company has devised a number of coverages toreduce the risks for investors in renewable energies–making suchinvestments feasible.

The spectrum ranges from traditional coverage for industrialfacilities to complex solutions, such as coverage against a lack ofwind or sunshine and performance guarantee covers for manufacturersin the technology sector that reduce the risks for investors.

The company is looking to increase its premium incomesubstantially by 2020.

Munich Re also cited Desertec, a project using solar energy orwind power that will initially focus on the Middle East/NorthAfrica region (MENA), taking advantage of vast expanses of desertthere.

Electricity created by solar and wind power is to be transmittedover long distances using extremely low-loss high-voltage directcurrent technology (HVDC).

The Desertec Foundation and Munich Re launched Dii GmbH, anindustrial initiative, on Oct. 30, 2009. Dii now has 18shareholders and 32 partners. Its goal is ambitious–to developconditions for implementation of the desert power project which, inthe long term, is to supply a considerable portion of electricityneeded by the MENA region as well as 15 percent of Europe'selectricity.

While these are ambitious goals, companies like Munich Re havethe foresight and the means to make them happen.

Now all we need is for some ingenious organization to figure outhow to utilize all the garbage we are piling up daily on ourplanet–a wasted resource in my opinion. There are mountains ofmaterials creating methane gas, which is an untapped alternate fuelsource. They also contain precious metals. These could be used incomputers, cell phones and items yet to be invented.

All of these potential materials are going to waste needlessly,as well as seeping into our water table and causing other problems.But I believe the ingenuity of some will uncover a virtual goldmine in our dump sites.

But all in time–something else that may be in short supply ifwe're not careful.