What a year it’s been, with collective sighs of relief all round concerning the catastrophe no shows. But we still need to watch the skies in 2007, says Whistleblower.

What will 2006 be best remembered for? Thankfully for the market it will not be the North Atlantic hurricane season, which turned into more of a whimper rather than a whirlwind, courtesy, it seems, of some hot dry sand which had been picked up from the Sahara and dumped into the atmosphere above the North Atlantic to dry up all the humidity and therefore the storms.

Cat-free it was, but I think it depends on your role in this wonderful insurance and reinsurance market of ours as to what rang your bells in 2006.

For the run-off market and for Lloyd's, I assume the deal between Berkshire Hathaway and Equitas drew a line under the exposures of the past and had Lime Street saying the “A word” (asbestos) in public for the first time in over a decade.

It did have the effect of promoting once again what a well-managed run-off can bring to a risk carrier in terms of bringing finality to an area of activities that any company would like to divest quickly and silently.

Sadly for London, the year will not be remembered for that much-promised quantum leap in terms of process reform.

The longest journey starts with the smallest step, according to the old Chinese proverb. However there are still many in the market that think after a decade of smallest steps, we now need to see a lengthening of the stride in 2007 if the market is to have any chance of getting to the finish line.

Whistleblower's most memorable event for the year is more of a theme than a single event. Climate change has suddenly been thrust into the limelight around the world. There seems to be a consensus that something has to change in terms of the way mankind operates and in some respects it leads me on to how the event of the year will become the issue for 2007.

It established that global warming and climate change are impacting on weather patterns and with it, all aspects of life. However, 2007 may well see the insurance industry dragged into the heart of the debate. It may well be urged to turn its back on those who contribute to global warming in an effort to get them to mend their ways.

However, it may also find that those who are deemed responsible are held to account via the legal systems and such a liability could well lead to the need for a new run-off vehicle to draw a line under the carbon emissions of the past.