The Global Shield against Climate Risks is a collaborative initiative by the G7 and V20 to increase pre-arranged finance for climate-vulnerable countries and communities and contributes to addressing losses and damages caused by climate change. The Global Shield was officially launched at COP 27, and now details of the implementation process in the first set of pathfinder countries are being developed. The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working under the Multi-Actor-Partnership on CDRFI project (MAPs) have published an opinion paper outlining their key expectations (and possible contributions), building on a side event at COP 27 at the V20/CVF Pavilion. The MAPs partners are ready to support the Global Shield, especially to build upon the work done in the pathfinder countries Senegal, the Philippines, and Malawi. 

MAPs partners expect the Global Shield to be inclusive, gender-transformative and to follow pro-principles. It needs to be backed with substantial, new, and additional funding and cover a broad variety of risks. The processes under the Global Shield need to be multi-stakeholder driven and participatory, thus including CSOs in high level and national processes. Activities should always build upon existing structures and avoid duplication. The access to Global Shield funding needs to be swiftly opened to as many countries as possible, while ensuring that any funding process is evidence driven, as little procedural as possible, accessible, transparent, and accountable. Finally, a wide range of activities, adjusted to the vulnerable countries’ needs, should be supported. 

The Multi-Actor-Partnerships on CDRFI, which have been established in the last three years in Caribbean, Malawi, Madagascar, the Philippines, Senegal, and Sri Lanka through local project partners with support from CARE Germany, MCII, and Germanwatch, have a lot to offer to the process. They can provide a landing zone for the Global Shield as it offers established multi-actor communities on CDRFI, including in the pathfinder countries. Key actors and offices are already organized and knowledgeable about CDRFI. Thus, coordination will be easier, allowing to better focus on implementation. MAPs can help ensure complementarity and build on top of what is already there. Through connections on the ground, MAPs can generate data, and evidence and explore gaps and needs. 

Are you interested in work on Gender, MAPs and CDRFI in Madagascar? Check out the interview of Jeremiah Fenitra, fundraising and communications manager at SAF/FJKM and focal point for the MAP in Madagascar, and MCII colleague Sinja Buri (in French). 

• Watch the Fireside chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWfKs9jRnpI  

• Browse all sessions here https://climate-insurance.org/news/mcii-fireside-sessions-at-cop27/ 

Improving Disaster Risk Finance in Climate Vulnerable Countries through Civil Society Engagement. Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) is a prominent topic in 2022 and highly relevant to the loss and damage discussions at COP 27. The V20 and G7 have launched the ‘Global Shield against Climate Risks’ in Sharm el Sheik. The initiative aims to increase financial protection of climate vulnerable countries and people, which includes better coordination of donors and implementation agencies and funding disbursed through three Global Shield vehicles. The process will be locally-led through in-country dialogues, where Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) could play a significant role through their networks and local connections. This event discussed the Global Shield from a civil society and youth perspective and showcases lessons to be learned from successful CSO-led country initiatives on CDRFI, especially in climate vulnerable countries.  

We kindly thank the Vulnerable Twenty Group for providing the space for civil society to discuss and share their perspectives!  

Speakers: 

• Magdalena Mirwald, MCII – Moderation 
• Dennis Mombauer, SLYCAN Trust (Sri Lanka) 
• Kairos de la Cruz, ICSC – Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (Philippines) 
• Emmanuel Seck, ENDA Energie (Senegal) 
• Jeremiah Fenitra, SAF/FJKM (Madagascar) 
• Julius Ng’oma, CISONECC (Malawi) 
• Mrityunjoy Das, CARE Bangladesh 
• Ashan Karunananda, SLYCAN Trust Youth (Sri Lanka) 
• Sajani Ranasinghe, SLYCAN Trust Youth (Sri Lanka) 
• Mayantha Madurasinghe, SLYCAN Trust Youth (Sri Lanka) 
• Kavindu Ediriweera, SLYCAN Trust Youth (Sri Lanka) 

On Tuesday, 8.11.2022 13:30-15:00, a side event organized by CARE and Germanwatch highlighted key insights and experience from multi-county projects on Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance and civil society engaging in the Green Climate Fund process and implementation. It drew on country case studies and specific research findings around adaptation finance, L&D needs, and gender aspects, with a focus on the African context.  

MAPs speakers on the second panel: 

• Dennis Mombauer, SLYCAN Trust (Sri Lanka) 
• Magdalena Mirwald, MCII 
• Jeremiah Fenitra, SAF/FJKM (Madagascar) 
• Julius Ng’oma, CISONECC (Malawi) 
• Sven Harmeling, CARE 

Geneva Oliverie, Development Specialist at CPDC, took part in a parallel session at the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance (ICII) 2022 titled “Towards a global shield against climate risk – The local perspective” hosted by GIZ. Geneva presented the civil society perspective on the Global Shield, which can only be effective if all stakeholder groups are consistently included from the very beginning.  

Watch the recording here: https://www.munichre-foundation.org/en/Inclusive_insurance/International_Conference_on_Inclusive_Insurance/ICII2022/Videos.html (scroll to  Day 2 – 25 October 2022 14:00 – 15:30 / Ballroom: Parallel session 1 – Towards a global shield against climate risk – The local perspective’) 

The graphical recording is ready for the virtual conference ‘Advancing pro-poor and gender-just climate and disaster risk finance insurance (CDRFI) in the era of loss and damage: Engaging and sharing – Experience and expertise from multi-actor partnerships and beyond’!

Check out the key takeaways of the different sessions of the conference: CDRFI-virtual-conference-recordings-2022 

• Climate and disaster risk finance: exploring the institutional landscape, gaps and needs 

• Building capacity and sharing knowledge on CDRFI: tools and approaches 
• Gender, equality, women empowerment and CDRFI: key considerations for effective actions 
• From Glasgow to Sharm El Sheikh: CDRFI and the UNFCCC process 
• Pro-poor climate and disaster risk finance and insurance in the food sector: private sector experience and multi-actor partnerships 
• Report Launch: Caribbean Emancipation 2030: A Sovereign Debt and Climate Justice Initiative for Caribbean SIDs 

• Climate and disaster risk finance and Insurance: Experiences from Africa 
• Building MAP in Asia: Contextualizing and Localizing CDRFI in Laos, Philippines, and Sri Lanka 
• Closing session: key learning and take-aways across the conference 

What has happened in the first phase of the Multi-Actor Partnership on CDRFI Project? This overview collects key achievements for each section of the MAP. It describes the key partner organization and the country contexts and lists MAP members and main activities. Reflecting on the progress in the last 3 years, the most important output and key learnings are summarized.  

The document is available in English and French

What is pro-poor climate and disaster risk finance and insurance about? What is the experience with designing and applying pro-poor principles and approaches? Which perspectives do multiple actors – governments, civil society, academia, private sector – bring to the tables, locally, nationally and globally? And how can the international cooperation and support architecture advance pro-poor and just approaches to tackle the climate impacts and losses and damages that communities and countries of the Global South are facing?

These are some of the key questions that this conference hosted by a joint civil society consortium is aiming to explore with a wide variety of experts and decision-makers.

The project page of MAPs partner ICSC hosts all information on the sessions and presentations here: https://icsc.ngo/portfolio-items/cdrfi-virtual-conference/

In order to tackle knowledge and capacity gaps of CSOs both with regards to CDRFI and to advocacy strategies, MCII created a self-paced eLearning course that gives a profound introduction to climate and disaster risk finance and insurance (CDRFI) and the political processes surrounding it. The course presents conceptual and policy frameworks, laying the ground for CDRFI, and shows how approaches in this context are functioning in practice. It further demonstrates how CDRFI can be integrated in national policy frameworks and provides insight on CSO engagement and advocacy strategies at the national, regional and international levels. Finally, it sheds light on potential benefits, limitations and challenges of CDRFI solutions. By the end of the course, learners should have more resources to engage in a meaningful and critical way in CDRFI programs. The main target group of this online course are civil society organizations that want to work in the field of CDRFI, but everyone interested in the topic is welcome to join this learning.

Students, teachers, and officials of the Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City, Leyte, along with representatives from Eastern Visayas civil society and local governments, joined a two-day learning event held at the school last August 25-26, 2022. Their aim: build climate change resilience in the region through science and the arts by discussing topics including CDRFI and climate science. The research study led by the VSU RCCRDC was done under the global Multi-Actor Partnership (MAP) project, which aims to provide spaces for discussion and discourse around CDRFI.

https://icsc.ngo/science-and-arts-merge-for-climate-action-in-eastern-visayas/

https://icsc.ngo/transforming-climate-science-into-actions-of-hope/

The MAP Asian Regional Workshop held from May 30 to June 1, 2022 at the Sudakara Art Space, Sudamala Suites and Villas in Bali, Indonesia is a first step towards building a stronger regional MAP approach. The project page hosts all the resources that were shared during the workshop.

MAP members from CARE, Germantwatch, MCII, ICSC, CISONECC, ENDA, SAF/FJKM met at the sidelines of SB56 in Bonn to look back on the past 2,5 years and prepare for a possible second phase.

The event “En Route to COP 27: Key Moments & Climate Vulnerables Expectations on Climate and Disaster Finance” brought together voices from V20 Governments, civil society and academia to lay out key deliverables needed from COP 27, the G7/G20, WB/IMF and from the Glasgow Dialogue in the space of Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI), climate finance and Loss and Damage. At the event, recent research on historic Losses and Damages in V20 countries as well as on the CDRFI Agenda for 2022 will be presented. In the face of increasing climate change related losses and damages and the staggering financial protection gap, voices from climate vulnerable countries must be amplified more than ever. This event advocates for V20 initiatives seeking strategic partnerships to implement the V20 2025 Vision and V20 Climate Prosperity Plans.

MAPs partners MCII, ICSC, SLYCAN Trust and SAF/FJKM partnered up to deliver a video n “Multi-actor partnership in climate disaster risk finance and insurance: Lessons learned and way forward” that was shown multiple times at the UNU EHS Booth at the GPDRRR in Bali.

Outside the Box: Rethinking the Climate and Disaster Finance Agenda A Discussion Paper

With USD 252 billion of reported economic damage caused by natural disasters, 2021 became the fourth most damaging year recorded over the last two decades (CRED, 2021). Hurricane Ida alone caused USD 65 billion in damages and ranks as the 6th most damaging natural disaster of the last 20 years. The recently published IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (IPCC, 2022a) warns urgently that the risks of climate change continue to increase, but that despite growing knowledge of impact chains, we are making little progress in climate adaptation and risk management. If the widening protection gap is not narrowed down soon, we will soon run up against the hard limits of human and ecosystem adaptation in many areas. This discussion paper highlights opportunities in 2022 in the various policy forums of international climate, development, and humanitarian policy, to narrow the protection gap through Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI). The paper offers an overall view of the discourse landscape and is aimed primarily at those political and civil society actors who have so far been familiar with only parts of the debate (e.g. the negotiations on loss and damage in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process) and are interested in identifying possible synergies with other parts.

PRINCIPLE(S) MATTER: A Compilation and Review of Governance Principles in Climate and Disaster Finance

One development over the past years has been the formulation of “governance principles” to influence institutional arrangements for disaster risk finance and the implementation practice by major initiative like the InsuResilience Global Partnership. MCII has published an overview about the governance principles in the space of climate and disaster finance and insurance. The assessment shows emerging principles on the political, institutional, policy, product and impacts. It includes recent policy decisions by the InsuResilience Global Partnerships’ (IGP) High Level Consultative Group including the IGP Pro Poor Principles, and the IGP Principle on SMART Premium and Capital Support The publication is a contribution to the UNFCCC Expert Group on Comprehensive Risk Management, where MCII’s Executive Director Sönke Kreft serves as a member. The document serves as an official activity of the Plan of Action, and should inform guidance for better climate risk management developed at the climate summit at the end of year.

A Global Response to Accelerating Climate Risks and Impacts – Key Asks for a Successful G-7 Summit

Climate impacts are increasing and will affect especially those people, communities and countries that are already most vulnerable but have contributed least to the climate crisis. At the same time, the international Climate and Disaster Risk Finance (and Insurance) (CDRFI) architecture is not prepared to adequately provide them with financial protection. Major problems include: a lack of financing at scale to meet real needs; insufficient coverage of relevant risks and impacts; lack of comprehensive risk financing strategies and limitation to a narrow scope of instruments and an increasingly fragmented and complex CDRFI architecture. Against this problem statement the Group of Seven (G-7) needs to deliver the following:

1. Provide new and additional funding to support developing countries in managing climate risks and addressing loss and damage,
2. Expand the CDRFI architecture to a system of global protection in order to provide coverage for all relevant climate risks and impacts; acknowledge the SMART Premium and Capital Support Principles,
3. Reform the InsuResilience Programme Alliance to advance a strategic disaster finance approach,
4. Develop and implement needs-based solutions jointly with vulnerable countries.

In the run-up to the G-7 Development Minister meeting in Berlin 18-19th May and the G-7 Heads of State Summit 26 – 28th June in Elmau, MCII and Germanwatch published joint key asks for a successful G-7 outcome.

Colleagues from ICSC conducted field work in Ifuago and helped facilitate a focus group discussion among people’s organizations in Lagawe. The purpose: to develop, deepen understanding of, and deploy climate and disaster risk financing and insurance (CDRFI), a programmatic approach to help protect groups and properties financially from climate and disaster impacts. Read their impressions here:

https://icsc.ngo/protecting-communities-from-climate-driven-events-through-map/

https://icsc.ngo/understanding-adaptation-and-risk-management-practices-of-the-ifugaos/

End of March, the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) and Anticipation Hub teamed up to convene German stakeholders from the humanitarian, climate and development community in a workshop to explore opportunities for closer collaboration across silos to strengthen the disaster risk financing architecture. Central questions included: How can the division of labor look like? Which instruments, collaborations and partnerships are needed? What are the obstacles that need to be overcome? What impulses need to be set at national and international level?

As delivered in the House of Representatives (HOR) Committee Meeting on Climate Change on 08 February 2022. In the meeting, the House Committee on Climate Change, headed by Representative Edgar M. Chatto, tackled the following resolutions:

1. R. No. 399 entitled, “Resolution…To Support Climate Advocates’ Key Points… (1) Climate Justice, (2) Urgency Of Climate Action, (3) System Change, (4) Defend Environmental Defenders, And (5) Youth-Led Collective Action,” authored by Rep. Sarah Jane I. Elago; and
2. R. No. 418 entitled, “Resolution… Expressing The Sense… For Climate Justice, Strengthened Implementation Of Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability Laws In The Country And For Developed Countries To Deliver On Their Commitments,” authored by Rep. Edgar M. Chatto, Rep. Loren Legarda, et. al.

We thank the Committee and its chair, Representative Chatto, for inviting us once more to this important event. In the interest of time, we’d like to keep our remarks brief. […]

3. Colleagues, we all know that Typhoon Odette, likely supercharged by warming seas, will not be the last extreme weather event to punish our country. It should remind us the country desperately needs responsive financing, in particular in the form of Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI).

An initiative such as CDRFI is best seen as a safety mechanism that vulnerable people can rely on pre- and post-disaster. If only insurance coverage was comprehensive enough in Odette-affected areas, money could have been easily disbursed instead of just reacting after the fact. It is true that insurance will require premium payments. But we also know with enough research and discussion on CDRFI, can tap premium and capital support from bigger pots of money such as those being facilitated by the InsuResilience Global Partnership, which the Philippines actually helped set up in its role as a leader of the V20 Group of Finance Ministers, among others. The private sector, with better policies and the effective governance coordination, will be able to roll out their own CDRFI-designed products.

CDRFI also provides us an opportunity to build on what we already have, instead of reinventing the wheel. ICSC itself plays a core role in the Multi-Actor Partnership that is guiding CDRFI as part of a global consortium that aims to provide an enabling environment for CDRFI – especially LGUs and the private sector, to flourish, market-wise, and to make such initiatives more accessible and affordable to those who need it the most.

The response to climate cannot be abstract and must not remain on the abstract level of political rhetoric. While climate justice is central to the work we do, climate justice is expressed most cogently when our people feel the interventions of government with respect to the climate crisis. This is why CDRFI is critical, because our people not just needs but expects direct support that is relevant to their needs.

As before, we continue to extend our support to honorable colleagues in this august chamber by working on a resolution that can demonstrate legislative support for the Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance initiative and the approach taken with multi-actor partnerships. As a forward looking measure that is responsive to great and growing needs on the ground, we hope this committee can extend its support for such a resolution as well.

CPDC launched a video series with its Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Champion, a cartoon character named Chrystal! She is a young climate activist who attends our RoundTable Discussions. Crystal wants to share all the new information and concepts she has learned from the consultations and her research. We are inviting you as we go on this educational journey with Crystal!

This paper seeks to contribute toward research on Gender and Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance to increase the local knowledge base of indigenous sources of information to inform national and regional level strategies for the inclusion of marginalized groups. More specifically, the aim is to explore to what extent small-scale farmers – with a focus on women farmers in Barbados, Grenada, and Antigua and Barbuda – have access to parametric insurance (PI) and to provide recommendations on the types of additional actions and research needed to improve access and uptake. By extension, this also involves identifying barriers to accessing PI and to what degree gender is mainstreamed into PI programmes offered in the identified Caribbean countries, including the CCRIF SPC activities (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility). Drawing on a review of relevant literature and other sources of information, the following sections explore the concept of PI, how it works, its role in the agriculture sector in the face of climate change, and its emergence in developed and developing countries (section 1.1); how gender may be integrated, depending on the insurance approach (section 1.2); and existing PI facilities in the Caribbean, with specific emphasis on CCRIF SPC and its scope, members, products, and the extent to which gender is mainstreamed within it (section 1.3).

Our Caribbean partner CPDC has recently published the seventh issue of their NGO Trends! The new policy magazine focuses on Pathways to Equal Protection.

Our Caribbean partner CPDC published the sixth issue of their NGO Trends magazine! The magazine introduces and discusses important aspects of CDRFI in the Carribean. Topics include:

• How Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance benefits the Caribbean
• The Importance of Individual Insurance in the Context of the Caribbean
• CCRIF Excess Rainfall (XSR), its functionality and policy recommendations.
• Critical Examination of Civil Society’s Inclusion in Disaster Risk Governance in the Caribbean
• Left Behind: Maroon Villages in Suriname battling Climate Change
• SENDAI Framework, Sustainable Development Goals, The Paris Agreement, The Vulnerable Twenty (V20 Group), The InsuResilience Global Partnership

Our Caribbean partner CPDC has successfully secured 37 individuals, mostly from civil society, to sign up to the regional MAP!

Throughout the remainder of the project it is envisioned to expand the base of signatories to other civil society organizations, academia and the private sector.

You can find out more about the Caribbean MAP on CPDC’s Risk Resilience Hub.

Our Caribbean partner CPDC has recently published the seventh issue of their NGO Trends! The new policy magazine focuses on Pathways to Equal Protection.

You can read the issue here!

This paper seeks to contribute toward research on Gender and Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance to increase the local knowledge base of indigenous sources of information to inform national and regional level strategies for the inclusion of marginalized groups. More specifically, the aim is to explore to what extent small-scale farmers – with a focus on women farmers in Barbados, Grenada, and Antigua and Barbuda – have access to parametric insurance (PI) and to provide recommendations on the types of additional actions and research needed to improve access and uptake. By extension, this also involves identifying barriers to accessing PI and to what degree gender is mainstreamed into PI programmes offered in the identified Caribbean countries, including the CCRIF SPC activities (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility). Drawing on a review of relevant literature and other sources of information, the following sections explore the concept of PI, how it works, its role in the agriculture sector in the face of climate change, and its emergence in developed and developing countries (section 1.1); how gender may be integrated, depending on the insurance approach (section 1.2); and existing PI facilities in the Caribbean, with specific emphasis on CCRIF SPC and its scope, members, products, and the extent to which gender is mainstreamed within it (section 1.3).

Download the High Resolution (36 MB) PDF Here

Download the Reduced Resolution (3 MB) PDF Here

One of our project partners the Caribbean Policy Development Center (CPDC) has published the latest issue of their policy magazine ‘Caribbean NGO Trends’. The theme for this issue was ‘Pathways to Equal Protection’ and  discusses diversity of social issues & how to address them to aid the most vulnerable groups. The issue highlights how Climate Risk Insurance can be an important tool for Caribbean countries while sharing case studies and outlining the frameworks and organizations involved.

Our colleagues from the Climate Policy Development Center (CPDC) have developed a new video explaining how to build risk resilience through using the 3A’s approach (by the Overseas Development Institute, ODI) and by fostering Integrated Climate Risk Management (ICRM).

Watch the video here.

Our local partner organization, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) has successfully conducted a virtual inception workshop with their CSO stakeholders in the Philippines amidst the COVID-19 pandemic! The workshop is the official and formal start to implementing the Multi-Actor Partnership in the Philippines.

On 7 August 2020, ICSC held the one-day workshop with various organisations and stakeholders with the objectives of

1. convening major actors of climate and disaster risk financing and insurance (CDRFI) to
get an overall lay of the land of CDRFI in the country;

2. providing a conducive space to discuss specific CDRFI issues, share knowledge and
perspectives;

3. linking international, national, and local CDRFI perspectives and establish a basis for
future collaboration on CDRFI in the Philippines; and

4. identifying the next steps for the MAPs to affect change in the country.

The workshop convened more than 60 individuals from national government agencies, insurance providers, academia, civil society, cooperatives, legislative bodies, and international organizations.

This is an important step to connect with CSO actors in our partner countries for the MAPs project and we are looking forward to engaging in follow-up activities in the coming weeks and months. Keeping in mind the safety of everyone involved, we will continue to explore alternative ways of facilitating an active exchange by supporting our local partner ICSC in their endeavor to build up an effective multi-actor partnership on CDRFI in the Philippines, despite the current crisis.

For more information about the event, see the concept note and slides below.

The webinar featured three break-out groups:
CDRFI and Adaptive Social Protection See the slides
CDRFI in the grassroot level See the slides
CDRFI and Slow Onset Events See the slides

Our colleagues from the Climate Policy Development Centre (CPDC) in Barbados are issuing the below call for proposals for a consultant to prepare a research paper on Gender and Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance.

Interested consultants should have a history of relevant work in the Caribbean region and/or be based in the Caribbean.

You can find the terms of reference for the paper on their website: https://cpdcngo.org/request-for-proposals-consultant-to-prepare-research-paper-on-gender-and-climate-disaster-risk-finance-and-insurance/

Our local partner organization Caribbean Policy Development Center (CPDC) has successfully conducted virtual kickoff workshops with their CSO stakeholders in Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada amidst the COVID-19 pandemic!

On 16, 17, and 18 June, CPDC colleagues in Barbados connected a variety of civil society actors via webinar with the aim to discuss Climate Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) practices and needs in the three countries. The objectives of these workshop were to:

1. Enhance the knowledge of participants on key elements of CDRFI;
2. Provide a space for participants to exchange knowledge, collaborate and share perspectives on CDRFI; and
3. Identify the relevant steps for engaging in advocacy around CDRFI.

This is a first important step to connect with NGO actors in our partner countries for the MAPs project and we are looking forward to engaging in follow-up activities in the coming weeks and months. Keeping in mind the safety of everyone involved, we will continue to explore alternative ways of facilitating an active local exchange by supporting our local partner CPDC in their endeavor to build up an effective multi-actor partnership on CDRFI in the Caribbean, despite the current crisis.