disaster risk financing

The Philippines is to benefit from a payout of almost $500 million to assist with its recovery from recent typhoon Mangkhut, as the countries catastrophe contingent line of credit provided by the World Bank has been triggered.

The World Bank has approved a $2.5 million grant that will pay the Republic of the Marshall Islands premiums for parametric disaster insurance coverage under the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Finance Initiative (PCRAFI).

A project is now underway that may see the country of Romania as the next in line to benefit from a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) instrument from the World Bank, as the government of the country seeks to enhance its disaster risk financing support.

A new initiative to develop a parametric insurance product to protect and enhance the resilience of coral reefs and the communities that rely on them is being developed by Willis Towers Watson through its Global Ecosystem Resilience Facility (GERF) and the Mesoamerican Reef Fund (MAR Fund).

The African nation of Kenya is the next country in line to benefit from a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) from the World Bank, with a project underway to deliver a $200 million disaster risk financing arrangement including a catastrophe contingent line of credit, alongside development financing.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a financial institution that supports economic growth and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, has hired Thomas Kessler, a long-time Swiss Re executive, into a newly created role focused on disaster risk insurance and financing.

The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), a parametric insurance facility for the Pacific Island nations which is supported by the World Bank and others, is hoping to expand its risk pool with the addition of new members and also through the creation of new risk transfer products.

Insurance and reinsurance brokerage Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has today announced the launch of the Global Ecosystem Resilience Facility, an insurance facility designed to help strengthen the resilience of ecosystems and their communities, through the use of efficient risk transfer where catastrophe bonds may feature.

The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), a parametric catastrophe insurance facility for the Pacific Islands which is supported by the World Bank and others, has made its largest ever payout of $3.5 million to Tonga after the impact of Cyclone Gita.

The World Bank has collaborated with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy to provide technical assistance and $4.5 billion in funding to help cities around the world better prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change, under the World Bank’s City Resilience Program (CRP).