climate change cat bond

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) is continuing to make progress towards the launch of its Extreme Climate Facility (XCF), a proposed multi-year funding mechanism that will issue climate change catastrophe bonds to help African nations transfer climate change related exposure to the capital markets.

Climate change will create challenges and also opportunities for the property & casualty insurance and reinsurance industry, according to rating agency Moody’s. However the threats presented by a changing climate are likely greater and Moody’s says this has a “net negative credit impact on the industry.”

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) has enlarged its risk pool, adding five new countries to those protected by the parametric insurer, growing the risk pool to $192m of capacity and utilising $70m of global reinsurance cover, which includes some ILS or collateralised protection.

The latest in our series of interviews features Dr Simon Young, CEO of African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Ltd (ARC Ltd), a catastrophe risk pooling insurer for African states established under the umbrella of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) Specialised Agency of the African Union (AU).

The African Risk Capacity’s (ARC) pioneering catastrophe insurance pool, which operates as the ARC Insurance Company Ltd. (ARC Ltd), is set to make its first payout, totalling $25 million to three participating countries.

Catastrophe bonds as a tool for financing the risk of climate change is set to become reality as the African Risk Capacity (ARC) announces the launch of the Extreme Climate Facility (XCF), a multi-year funding mechanism that will issue climate change cat bonds.