The aim of the article is to answer the question about the role of insurance in solving the financial consequences of environmental disasters. Using the method of dogmatic-legal analysis, the author presented legal conditions for the development of environmental insurance in the EU, limiting herself to the EU regulations. Attention was drawn to the global character of the issue by presenting examples of environmental disasters which occurred on other continents. Looking for the specificity of environmental insurance, attention was paid to the importance of the preventive function and the way of its realization as well as the importance of public-private partnership.