David Burt, the Premier and Finance Minister, has told the British trade media that the London insurance market cannot survive without Bermuda.

The extraordinary observation was made during an interview with The Insurer TV, in which the Premier highlighted the prosperity of Bermuda’s international (re)insurance market, noting how employment grew by 10 per cent during the pandemic.

He outlined the steady flow of new company incorporations, including specialty insurers and long-term (re)insurers and referred to the Bermuda Monetary Authority as “one of the top regulators on the planet.”

The Insurer’s magazine arm reported: “Burt said the strength and resilience of the Bermudian (re)insurance sector meant it was able to provide additional capacity to the London market, as well as maintaining its position at the forefront of innovation for new and emerging risks.”

They quoted the Premier: “What’s important is that people know we do not view London as our competitor in the insurance market, we view it as complementary – London cannot survive without Bermuda and Bermuda cannot survive without London.”

He added the Bermuda/London collaboration continues to work “incredibly well” with both markets growing.

He said every major insurance innovation over the last 40 years has come out of Bermuda, hence the environment for the island’s energy “sandbox” to spur progress in sustainable energy.

The Premier also highlighted Bermuda’s diversification of its economy into areas such as digital finance and climate risk finance.

He said the island was leading by example when it came to climate remediation, both in terms of creating an appropriate regulatory environment and ensuring it takes steps to improve the sustainability of its own energy and transport networks.

He promised amendments to the Clean Air Act will soon be introduced.

“We have set a very aggressive target to reduce our fossil fuel use by 85 per cent from 2019 levels to 2035,” he said.

“As a small island state that is being impacted by climate change, we want to show that we are doing our bit to address the challenge.”

The interview came during Bermuda’s recent trade delegation to London.