Environmental insurance

Environmental insurance is the activity of state, joint-stock, specialized and other insurance organizations to protect the environmental interests of persons engaged in the operation of hazardous facilities and bear the risks of liability for the occurrence of consequences of causing harm to other persons due to environmental pollution.

The funds of this type of insurance are formed from the deductions and contributions paid by these persons, as well as at the expense of any other funds not protected by law, intended for compensation of damage in cases of occurrence of insurance situations.

Environmental insurance has the following objectives:

• Compensation (full or partial) of environmental damage and property losses caused by disasters, natural disasters, accidents or environmental destruction due to human exposure;
• Stimulation of activities for the protection and protection of nature.

Environmental insurance is made through the conclusion of insurance contracts or direct order of the law. It can be carried out both in a voluntary and mandatory manner. Conditions of the first type are established by agreement of the parties to the contract, and the second - by the norms of the law.

The objects of environmental insurance are:

• Risks of liability for pollution of nature;
• Losses of the insured, which he carries with pollution of the environment;
• Health, life and property of the insured (or other persons specified in the contract).

Environmental insurance is carried out in the presence of two of its subjects - the insurer and the policyholder.

The insurer is the corresponding organization that undertakes to reimburse the policyholder for a fee (insurance premium) , upon the occurrence of the event specified in the contract, the harm caused within the insured amount.

An insured event is an unintentional, sudden damage to nature as a result of disasters, accidents that lead to pollution of the atmosphere, the earth's surface or sewage.

The insured are enterprises of all forms of ownership, which are legal entities and have production capacities within the territory of the Russian Federation.

Environmental insurance in Russia is based on the law "On Insurance" dated 27.11.97. According to it, three groups of interests of property character are distinguished: related to life, work capacity and provision of the policyholder's pension; Causing harm to the person or property of natural persons; Causing harm to legal entities.

In the West, they distinguish between environmental and property insurance against natural and environmental disasters. In Russia, this type of activity was not carried out until recently, except for Ingosstrakh, which concluded shipowner's insurance contracts in case of leakage of oil products and pollution of the coast or waters.

Separate insurance funds are designed specifically to finance purposeful work on forecasting, liquidation and cessation of natural and environmental disasters, accidents, accidents.

The procedure and conditions for state insurance and the use of funds are established by the Russian government. Under his leadership, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and Rosgosstrakh approved model provisions on voluntary environmental insurance, according to which the relevant organizations develop their own rules for this procedure on the basis of contracts between insurers and insurants.

Now monopoly in state insurance bodies has been overcome in Russia. Insurance rules are prepared by insurance organizations that have obtained a license for this type of activity. The regulatory framework governing voluntary environmental insurance is now almost completely formed. But the development of this sphere of insurance is constrained by the fact that there are no necessary data for calculation of tariff rates and creation of large reserve funds.