German contribution to implementing the G7 climate risk insurance initiative InsuResilience
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Global
Extreme weather events and other climate risks pose a threat to the livelihoods of many people. Poor population groups in developing countries are often particularly in need of protection, as they face a higher risk of losing their livelihoods.
Climate risk insurance policies offer financial protection against the negative repercussions of extreme weather events, which are becoming increasingly more frequent and intensive as a result of climate change. The InsuResilience Initiative was established for this purpose in 2015 under Germany’s G7 Presidency. The international climate agreement signed in December 2015 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015 provide an important impetus here. At the global Climate Change Conference held in Bonn in November 2017, the G7 Initiative was extended to form the InsuResilience Global Partnership. This brings representatives of the G20 and V20 (the Vulnerable Twenty Group: the 20 countries most severely affected by global warming) together with representatives of international organisations, the private sector, civil society and academia.
Various innovative, insurance-based instruments improve protection against the negative consequences of climate change, especially for poor and vulnerable people in developing countries. To this end, the Secretariat of the InsuResilience Global Partnership uses market-oriented solutions that take poverty and gender aspects into account. They provide insurance cover for up to 400 million people.
The project assists InsuResilience Initiative stakeholders in the international dissemination of market-oriented, poverty-sensitive and gender-inclusive solutions for climate risk insurance in developing countries. It works at national and international level with public sector, private sector and civil society stakeholders to build up corresponding expertise. The project is providing support in setting up and coordinating the InsuResilience Initiative’s Secretariat, steering bodies and specialist committees. It also promotes knowledge management. It provides specialist advice, strengthens cooperation between the initiative’s stakeholders and encourages them to share ideas and experience.
In addition, the project works in the area of direct insurance solutions, which insure private individuals or companies against risks and provide them with direct assistance in the event of a loss (for example insuring them against crop failures). The project analyses, develops and disseminates approaches and knowledge regarding such instruments.
- Since the beginning of the project, the initiative has developed into a major partnership. It has grown rapidly and now has over 70 members. In the InsuResilience Global Partnership, representatives of the G20, the 20 most influential industrialised and emerging economies, work together with representatives of the V20 as well as representatives of international organisations, the private sector, civil society and research.
- People now perceive the Global Partnership as a forum for sharing ideas, networking and developing solutions. The highest steering body is staffed with high-ranking individuals whose political ambassador function entails communicating the partnership’s mission and incorporating it into the global adaptation architecture.
- The project pays particular attention to the needs of women, as there are gender-specific differences in vulnerability to climate risks. Having performed two studies and established a corresponding working group, the Gender Working Group, the partnership can now develop concrete approaches to break down barriers in access to insurance cover for women.
- The InsuResilience Global Partnership Forum conference now gathers together an active community to exchange experience and present good practice examples. The conference provides new opportunities for cooperation and leads to new alliances. It has been held on an annual basis since 2017.
- A newly established Program Alliance unites the activities of the Centre for Disaster Protection, the Global Risk Financing Facility and the InsuResilience Solutions Fund. It is supported by the British Department for International Development (DFID), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the World Bank and KfW Group (KfW). The Program Alliance also includes a secretary’s office. The partners have, or are developing, a wide range of specialist solutions.