We transact all lines of property & casualty and life & health reinsurance worldwide. Our product range helps many people to access insurance protection. It is frequently only thanks to internationally operating reinsurers that Primary insurers are even in a position to cover large individual risks and risks associated with natural perils. Furthermore, we assist not only established but also young insurance companies with the cost-intensive acquisition of new business and with increasing insurance density. By delivering insurance solutions such as Microinsurance and agricultural insurance products we additionally contribute to social development in structurally deprived regions. These enable people with scant financial means to protect themselves against fundamental risks such as illness, disability, the consequences of natural disasters or crop failures. In our sustainability strategy we have set ourselves the goal of further expanding sustainable reinsurance solutions and stepping up our collaboration with primary insurers.
Demand for the insurance of agricultural land and livestock continues to grow, especially in view of a steadily rising need for food and the effects of climate change. This is especially true of developing countries. In 2016 we wrote Premium in the mid-triple-digit millions (EUR) in the area of agricultural risks, with around three-quarters of the total amount coming from developing and emerging markets in South America, Asia and Africa.
Safeguarding agricultural production is particularly important for the development of poor regions. Against this backdrop, for example, the InsuResilience initiative of the G7 nations launched at the instigation of the German federal government has set itself the goal of offering insurance protection against climate risks to 400 million poor and at-risk individuals in developing countries by the year 2020. The resulting increasingly widespread implementation of public-private partnerships presents new opportunities for our company to write profitable business in markets that have still to mature. The growing availability of new technologies, such as remote sensing by satellites, will enable us to further enlarge our scope of business through innovative insurance products.
Minimising adverse environmental effects is an important goal for our company. With this in mind, we are always interested in working together with our clients to develop insurance solutions specifically designed to deliver environmental benefits. In China, for example, we support the crop insurance programme that is controlled and subsidised by the government. The use of nitrogen fertilisers was long considered in China to be an indispensable means of protecting the grain harvest. The new insurance solution has helped make it possible to avoid excessive use of nitrogen fertilisers and counteract the resulting groundwater pollution.
By supporting aquaculture insurance solutions in Norway, among other countries, we promote programmes for controlled breeding and avoidance of overfishing. In so doing, we play a part in the development of sustainable aquaculture systems.
In addition, we have made a commitment to the development of carbon sequestration by offering reinsurance solutions for forests in Australasia that serve to slow global warming through the long-term storage of CO2. Not only that, in our coverage of forestry operations we give preferential treatment to those businesses that use state-of-the-art technologies for early detection of forest fires and are therefore able to act promptly to prevent the destruction of large wooded areas and the associated release of considerable quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
We also offer reinsurance solutions for covering the construction and operation of offshore wind farms, thereby encouraging the development and use of renewable energy sources.
In cooperation with our partners "Energi" in the United States and "b2bProtect" in Europe, we offer concepts that create incentives for businesses to invest in energy-saving technologies. In this connection we cover the energy savings warranties given by energy service providers. Working together with "b2bProtect", we have also developed parametric weather insurance products for our customers that enable companies to protect themselves against financial losses. These help to alleviate the impacts on business operations of adverse weather situations, which are becoming increasingly severe against the backdrop of climate change.
Generally speaking, insurance can also create incentives to invest because the possibility of receiving deficiency payments makes the investment decision easier. The "Energie Einspar Protect (EEP)" programme, for example, incentivises commercial customers to invest in energy-saving technologies and solutions through the guaranteed return on investment (RoI). Particularly in areas such as building control systems, LED installation and energy management, demand for this product is growing.
Through our activities in the Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) sector we support work on index-based Disaster Finance concepts for countries in South America and Asia. Such solutions would enable these countries to access funds in a short space of time should a natural disaster occur. The money could then be used in an emergency for first aid, helping the uninsured, repairing infrastructure and even to make up for lost tax revenues. Only a small number of these concepts have been realised to date. Nevertheless, organisations such as the World Bank have given their seal of approval to the development of these types of risk management concepts on the country level.
On the life and health reinsurance side, we are active in the area of government-assisted health microinsurance solutions. Poor sections of the population receive basic coverage for the most important hospital treatments through state-subsidised covers offered by private and government health insurers alike. These programmes are able to reach millions of insureds thanks to their respective government's support. In addition to assisting with risk management functions, we help our customers and the various government agencies in particular with securing on a lasting basis and further expanding the development and supervision of these state-supported health insurance programmes for poorer sections of the population. In India we have been actively involved in health microinsurance products since entering the market. The microinsurance sector is also expanding in less mature markets such as Pakistan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Here, too, we offer appropriate products in cooperation with primary insurance partners.
Through the online sale of life insurance products in Malaysia we are extending our reach to previously uninsured sections of society and offering coverage that delivers value for money while also being easy to buy. In so doing, we are helping to reduce social hardship among the population.
Furthermore, we support and promote holistic lifestyle insurance concepts that are geared towards insureds' healthy living and factor this accordingly into the pricing. The design and marketing of these insurance products is carried out in cooperation with primary insurers and local partners. Initially rolled out in selected markets, the concept is being extended to other international markets such as North America, Asia and Europe after enjoying a thoroughly positive response. The combination of insurance protection and an informed and healthy lifestyle are the key drivers behind the considerable appeal and (continuing) dynamic growth of this concept.
With our worldwide range of longevity products we are tackling the trend towards a rise in the average age and we are helping to ensure both financial security and a stable quality of healthcare well into retirement.
Particularly in markets with a low insurance density, such as Zambia or Mozambique, we actively support health business and contribute to local healthcare provision. In Central and Eastern Europe we assist our customers with the development of product solutions for private health insurance. The purpose of these initiatives is to safeguard the delivery of adequate healthcare to insureds that complements the medical treatment available under the government-run scheme, which is not always sufficient or readily available.
In addition, in South Africa we also support a primary insurer that enables its customers to invest part of the premium for charitable purposes when they purchase an insurance policy. As a general principle, we support primary insurers seeking to develop innovative products or to become active in new regions by providing financing solutions, thereby increasing insurance density.