Netherlands News

Nations Meet on Climate Cash Contributions; UN Sees Long Haul

About 45 nations met on Thursday to seek ways to raise billions of dollars in aid to help the poor combat climate change as the United Nations warned them of a long haul to slow global warming. Environment ministers and …

UN Climate Panel Urged to Reform, Stick to Science

The U.N. climate panel should only make predictions when it has solid scientific evidence and avoid straying into policy advocacy, a group of national science academies said in a report Monday. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was …

Dutch Review Backs U.N. Climate Panel Report

The overall findings of a U.N. panel report were sound, despite concerns that errors had corrupted the credibility of its conclusions, said a Dutch agency charged with conducting a review. The PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency launched its review at …

Best Affirms Brit’s ‘A’ Ratings

A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” of the UK’s Brit Insurance Limited (BIL). Best also affirmed the ICR of “bbb” of Brit Insurance Holdings N.V. (BIHNV), based …

Ratings: United Educators, North Country, Stonebridge, Farmers Union, Park, So. United Fire

A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the issuer credit rating (ICR) to “a+” from “a” and affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) of United Educators Insurance, a Vermont-based Reciprocal Risk Retention Group (UE), with stable outlooks. The ratings reflect …

Bermuda Signs Tax Accord with Italy

Bermuda’s Minister of Finance, the Hon. Paula A. Cox, announced that Bermuda has concluded negotiations for a bilateral agreement with the Italian Republic that will, “upon signing later this year, provide for a full exchange of information on criminal and …

Sources Indicate U.N. to Pick Costa Rica’s Figueres as New Climate Chief

Veteran Costa Rican climate diplomat Christiana Figueres is set to be appointed as the new United Nations climate chief, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The sources said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had chosen Figueres over former South …

Volcanic Ash Grounds European Flights

Volcanic ash from Iceland caused widespread disruption at airports in Britain and other parts of northern Europe on Monday, grounding 1,000 flights and delaying hundreds of thousands of passengers, aviation officials said. Eurocontrol, the European air traffic agency, said Britain …

Life products, Asset Mgmt. Buoy Allianz, Generali, Aegon, Ageas in Q1

European insurers were buoyed by strong sales of life insurance and asset management products on the back of a reviving economy in the first quarter, offsetting big disaster damage claims. Germany’s Allianz, Italy’s Assicurazioni Generali, The Netherlands’ Aegon and Belgium’s …

UK’s Amlin to Establish European Reinsurance Company in Switzerland

London-based Amlin plc, one of Lloyd’s and the UK’s best known insurers, has announced plans to establish a reinsurance company in Switzerland to serve European clients. Amlin said it believes that the company “will provide the European insurance market with …