o:36283 Environmental insurance as a response to increasing environmental risks en The environment is considered a public good. Natural resources, including air, water, land, flora, and fauna, are accessible to all, and their degradation negatively impacts society as a whole. As natural resources become increasingly scarce, environmental protection has never been more important than today.1 However, environmental risks are a relatively new area of societal concern. Only in the past half-century has society started to prioritise them. Therefore, practical methods for managing these risks are still in their infancy.2 This chapter examines environmental insurance as one of the most effective contemporary instruments for preventing and managing environmental risks. An inevitable consequence of economic development is the degradation of the ecological environment and the increasing frequency of environmental pollution. Persistent environmental challenges exert significant pressure on the sustainability of economic growth. Industrial expansion and rapid urbanisation drive economic progress but also lead to resource depletion, pollution, and ecological degradation. These issues threaten public health, biodiversity, and the stability of key economic sectors. Sustainable development requires striking a balance between economic activities and environmental protection to ensure that growth does not come at the expense of future generations. Governments are responding to these challenges by introducing stricter environmental regulations and encouraging the adoption of green technologies, while economic entities are increasingly embracing sustainable business practices and implementing responsible investment policies. Environmental insurance plays a crucial role in this process by encouraging companies to internalise environmental risks, comply with sustainability standards, and mitigate financial losses from pollution incidents. Environmental insurance is a type of insurance coverage that protects against risks threatening the environment, including air, water, and soil pollution, loss of biodiversity, destruction of natural resources, and other damages resulting from accidents or negligent behaviour by companies or individuals. This type of insurance focuses on protecting the environment and minimising the consequences of ecological disasters. The primary function of environmental insurance is to provide financial protection against the realisation of environmental risks. These risks refer to hazards that may endanger the natural environment, human health, or the quality of essential resources. They can be natural, such as floods, earthquakes, or droughts, or anthropogenic, meaning caused by human activities, such as pollution, deforestation, improper waste management, or the emission of harmful gases. Identifying environmental risks is crucial for the implementation of environmental insurance, as it enables the anticipation of potential damages that may result from specific activities. In response to the global challenge of sustainable environmental development, the European Union has recognised the importance of environmental protection and established standards and regulations that its member states must observe. These efforts have created an institutional framework for managing environmental risks and their consequences through the implementation of environmental insurance. This chapter aims to explore the potential for introducing environmental insurance in Serbia based on a comparative analysis of international experiences, with particular attention given to the necessary conditions for its effective application. Ključne reči: osiguranje, životna sredina, rizici Keywords: insurance, environmental, risks 91552100 170315529 1552100 978-86-403-1879-2 2025-06-10T12:13:25.620Z 44 no 46 Jelena Kočović Univerzitet u Beogradu Ekonomski fakultet 12438375 0000-0003-3219-4746 2025 46 Marija Koprivica Univerzitet u Beogradu Ekonomski fakultet 23856999 0000-0003-4239-2252 2025 46 Milica Kočović De Santo 16485223 2025 application/pdf 428991 https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:36283 no yes 18 70 368 1556235 11A03 Innovations in insurance : from traditional to modern market 3 28 Belgrade University of Belgrade, Faculty of economics and business, Publishing centre 2025