How permafrost insurance could revolutionize Arctic development

Permafrost — and its vulnerability to climate change — makes Arctic development risky and expensive. A robust, tailored insurance market could change that.

Say you’re a homeowner in Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost American city. You have fire insurance for your home, insurance against the weight of snow damaging your roof, and maybe even flood insurance now that storm surges are increasing. It seems that you’re covered. But in reality, every day you are exposed to a much more prevalent threat, one that you have no way of protecting against. It’s a constant danger with catastrophic power: thawing permafrost.