Tort lawyers will be a key driving force behind the emerging risks that reinsurers will have to contend with in years and decades ahead.That is the view of Peter Thomas, chief risk officer of Wllis Re, who said history showed that the development of tort law and the insurance industry had gone hand in hand. In a session on the final morning of the Bermuda Captive Conference yesterday, Mr Thomas responded to a question from the floor about how the emerging risk of climate change might translate into future insurance claims.There were already climate change cases before the courts, he said. “If you look at history, when society has a lot of costs, it seeks to transfer the costs to shareholders.“Utilities are already defending themselves on a fairly regular basis. Academics are connnecting certain industries to climate change.“We are dealing with a trial-by-jury system, so the science does not have to be perfect, it has to be convincing.“We’re going to find people looking for ways to deal with these issues, maybe on an industry basis. The plaintiffs’ bar is good at changing the rules of the game.” Law firms who find a way to successfully sue companies for the effects of climate change could open the door to damages awards of billions of dollars in damages, Mr Thomas added.In his presentation on emerging uncertainty, Mr Thomas highlighted the link between “big law and big insurance”, pointing out that tort could not have grown to the extent it has without the insurers to pay the damages bills. Reinsurers, he said, should look at demographics on a long-term basis and be aware of an expanding global middle class, growing particularly fast in Asia, that would be seeking to protect themselves.In the 19th century, fire was considered the major risk, leading to the use in construction of fire-resistant asbestos, which itself became a massive source of insurance claims in the 20th century.Climate change, he said, could conceivably have an impact like that of asbestos, especially with well-funded law firms seeking for ways to sue.