Lloyd's has co-authored and endorsed the Resilient Coasts Blueprint. The blueprint is based around principles for action including:
- filling the gaps in our understanding of climate impacts where possible (but not using uncertainty as an excuse for inaction)
- requiring risk based land use planning
- designing adaptable infrastructure and building code standards - with future risk in mind
- strengthening ecosystems as part of a risk mitigation strategy (such as mangrove swamps which can absorb hurricane damage)
- designing flexible adaptation plans which can cope with the inevitable uncertainty in climate forecasting
- maintaining a viable insurance market; in particular allow risk based pricing
- integrating climate change questions into due diligence for investment and lending
The blueprint was created by a working party driven by Ceres (a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups) and the Heinz Center (a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution dedicated to improving the scientific and economic foundation for environmental policy). Lloyd's worked alongside other insurers, regulators, politicians, environmental organizations, real estate developers and investors to shape the principles.
At the inception of the project a joint press release was released by Heinz and Ceres which included the statement:
"With more than the half of the population living along the coast, the United States is acutely vulnerable to rising sea levels and other impacts from climate change. Cities like Miami are just starting to recognize the threat of rising sea levels where even modest sea level rise could threaten billions of dollars of real estate and economic activity."
