Marsh, Inc. Joins Pew Center on Global Climate Change

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change announced today that Marsh, Inc. has joined the Pew Center's Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC) and its efforts to understand and address the impacts of global climate change. Marsh, the world's leading risk and insurance services firm, recognizes climate change to be one of the most significant emerging risks affecting businesses worldwide, and has urged its clients and other companies to take action to address the issue. In April, Marsh released “Climate Change: Business Risks and Solutions,” a 32-page report that describes the potential impact of climate change on business risk, including the strong threat of increasingly volatile weather conditions; impacts on commercial insurance markets, business resources, personnel, and corporate preparedness; and increasing legal and regulatory pressures. Additionally, in a groundbreaking February 22, 2006 conference call with its global clients, Marsh Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Storms committed the company to be a leading source of climate risk information and solutions.

“The insurance industry is uniquely positioned to face both the risks and opportunities presented by climate change,” said Eileen Claussen, President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. “Marsh recognizes the responsibility that leading companies have in developing solutions to deal with the most dangerous impacts of climate change. We look forward to working with them as they continue to engage their clients and colleagues in this critical issue.”

“Climate change is a complex global issue at the intersection of science, risk, and public policy,” said Storms. “It is a challenge that our clients – and the world – will face for a very long time. Our collaboration with the Pew Center, and the leading companies that work with it, is an important step in our long-term commitment to addressing this issue.”

Marsh, the world's leading risk and insurance services firm, has nearly 30,000 employees and annual revenues approaching $5 billion. The firm provides advice and transactional capabilities to clients in over 100 countries. Marsh is a unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global professional services firm with more than 60,000 employees and annual revenues of approximately $12 billion. MMC also is the parent company of Guy Carpenter, Kroll, Putnam Investments, and Mercer. MMC's stock (ticker symbol: MMC) is listed on the New York, Chicago, Pacific and London stock exchanges. MMC's web site address is www.mmc.com. Marsh's web site address is www.marsh.com.

The BELC was established by the Pew Center in 1998. The group is comprised of mainly Fortune 500 companies representing a diverse group of industries including energy, automobiles, manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metals, mining, paper and forest products, consumer goods and appliances, telecommunications, and high technology. Individually and collectively, these companies are demonstrating that it is possible to take action to address climate change while maintaining competitive excellence, growth, and profitability. The BELC is now the largest U.S. based association of corporations focused on addressing the challenges of climate change, with 41 members representing $2 trillion in market capitalization and over 3 million employees.

The other members of the BELC are: ABB; Air Products; Alcan; Alcoa Inc.; American Electric Power; Baxter International Inc.; The Boeing Company; BP; California Portland Cement; CH2M HILL; Cummins Inc.; Deutsche Telekom; DTE Energy; Duke Energy; DuPont; Entergy; Exelon; GE; Georgia-Pacific; Hewlett-Packard Company; Holcim (US) Inc.; IBM; Intel; Interface Inc.; John Hancock Financial Services; Lockheed Martin; Novartis; Ontario Power Generation; PG&E Corporation; Rio Tinto; Rohm and Haas; Royal Dutch/Shell; SC Johnson; Sunoco; Toyota; TransAlta; United Technologies; Weyerhaeuser; Whirlpool Corporation; and Wisconsin Energy Corporation.

For more information about global climate change and the activities of the Pew Center and the BELC, visit www.pewclimate.org.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change was established in May 1998 by The Pew Charitable Trusts, one of the United States' largest philanthropies and an influential voice in efforts to improve the quality of the environment. The center is an independent, nonprofit, and non-partisan organization dedicated to providing credible information, straight answers, and innovative solutions in the effort to address global climate change. The center is led by Eileen Claussen, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

Pew is no longer active in this line of work, but for more information, visit the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions site.