Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Insurance, liability and compensation funds · Venezuela · 2026

Venezuela 2026 twin earthquakes insurance gap

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

Twin earthquakes struck Venezuela on 24 June 2026. Munich Re put the loss at about 30 billion dollars with under 1 billion insured; UNDP and UNDRR gave damage estimates of 6.7 and about 37 billion dollars.

about $30bn loss; under $1bn insured estimateLoss, Munich Re estimate, and insured share
Munich Re via Artemis, July 2026. UNDP and UNDRR give different damage figures.

Status As of July 2026: loss estimates published by UNDP, Munich Re and UNDRR; no compensation or claims figure found.

What?
Twin earthquakes caused losses estimated between $6.7 billion and about $37 billion, with less than $1 billion insured according to Munich Re. Artemis
Where?
Venezuela. PreventionWeb (UNDRR)
When?
24 June 2026. PreventionWeb (UNDRR)
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Uninsured households and businesses in Venezuela — Bore almost all of the loss, according to UNDP. Insurance Business
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The sources reviewed do not explain why coverage was low beyond the unverified La Patilla report.
How?
Munich Re, UNDP and UNDRR published differing loss estimates using different definitions. Artemis
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Twin earthquakes struck Venezuela on 24 June 2026, according to the title of a UNDRR-linked publication on PreventionWeb.

Munich Re's first-half 2026 figures, reported by Artemis in July 2026, put global economic catastrophe losses at $112 billion against $44 billion insured. For Venezuela the report put the loss from the twin earthquakes at about $30 billion, with less than $1 billion insured.

UNDP estimated direct economic damage at $6.7 billion, almost entirely uninsured, according to Insurance Business. UNDRR's technical estimate was about $37 billion in direct physical damage.

Spanish-language outlet La Patilla reported on 30 July 2026 that about 6% of Venezuelans are insured and that some policies excluded earthquakes. This comes from a secondary summary and has not been checked against the article.

  1. 2026Twin earthquakes strike Venezuela (24 June); UNDP, Munich Re and UNDRR publish differing loss estimates; La Patilla reports on insurance coverage (30 July)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

How large was the damage from the twin earthquakes?
International bodies
UNDP

Direct economic damage of $6.7 billion, almost entirely uninsured.

Insurance Business
Company or project
Munich Re

A loss of about $30 billion, with less than $1 billion insured.

Artemis
International bodies
UNDRR

About $37 billion in direct physical damage.

PreventionWeb (UNDRR)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Munich Re put the twin earthquakes' loss at about $30 billion, with less than $1 billion insured.
      Artemis
    • UNDP estimated direct economic damage at $6.7 billion, almost entirely uninsured.
      Insurance Business
    • UNDRR's technical estimate was about $37 billion in direct physical damage.
      PreventionWeb (UNDRR)

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    1. 2026No policy found
      Insurers in Venezuela → Policyholders in Venezuela

      Munich Re reported less than $1 billion of the roughly $30 billion loss as insured; the insurers' own claims figures are not in the sources reviewed. Artemis

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Loss estimate range
    $6.7bn to about $37bn
    UNDP (direct economic damage) to UNDRR (direct physical damage)
    Insured amount
    Under $1bn
    Munich Re, via Artemis

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

    Court

    Insurers

    • Unclear Insurers in Venezuela: no decision on record.

    Figures

    • Insufficient Insured share population: Reported by La Patilla; not independently verified.

    Accounts

    • Disputed How large was the damage from the twin earthquakes?

    Record

    • Disputed The loss estimates differ widely: UNDP $6.7 billion, Munich Re about $30 billion, UNDRR about $37 billion, with different definitions.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: about 6% of Venezuelans are insured; some policies excluded earthquakes; the regulator removed the exclusion for health policies a day after the quakes (La Patilla, via a secondary summary).

    Did the harm stop?

    Not applicable; the sources reviewed describe a disaster loss and its insurance coverage.

    Who paid?

    The sources reviewed put almost all of the loss on those who were uninsured; no compensation figure is on record.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Government and regulators

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Insurance

    Reinsurance
    Insurance bought by insurers to pass part of their own risk to other companies.
    Underwriter
    An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.
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