Lloyd’s and UN team up to tackle climate risks
Lloyd’s, on behalf of the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Insurance Task Force, has entered into a partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to scale insurance access for “climate-vulnerable countries”, including Asia, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Africa.
By signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the partnership will involve all parties collaborating to design innovative insurance products that will deliver financial resilience against “climate shocks” in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Initially focussing on building and scaling solutions across Fiji and the Pacific Islands, the partnership will also seek to replicate the model in other regions, including Asia and parts of Africa.
The UNCDF and Lloyd’s will also promote public-private partnerships in these regions, with the aim of closing the protection gap, and ensuring the knowledge gained from these actives is shared with key national, regional, and international stakeholders (including policymaking think-tanks, United Nations agencies, and academic research institutions).
Mourad Wahba, officer-in-charge of the UNCDF, said: “Insurance can serve as a powerful tool, not only in support of climate resilience, but also to secure the delivery of the Sustainable Development Agenda in the world’s most vulnerable countries. To deliver on this promise, we will need innovation and collaboration. The SMI as well as the partnership we are entering into today deeply reflects both of these elements.”
John Neal, CEO of Lloyd’s, said: “Insurance has a vital role to play in building resilience against climate-related risks. This partnership with the UNCDF underpins the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s mission to develop a coordinated global effort to mitigate climate and natural catastrophe risks as we progress towards a more sustainable future.”
As chair of the Insurance Task Force, Lloyd’s will collaborate with the UNCDF to identify and address potential policymaking challenges hindering the development of climate risk insurance in developing markets, as well as promoting best practice initiatives for SID and LDC policymakers to best mitigate climate catastrophe risks.
The partnership signifies a joint ambition to advance and expand access to insurance products between Fiji and the rest of the Pacific (through so-called South-South), and between wider Northern and Southern Hemisphere countries, under the UNCDF Global Shield Coordination hub’s ‘North-South’. This ambition follows on from the successful launch by the Sustainable Markets Initiative Insurance Task Force of the Disaster Resilience Framework for Climate-Vulnerable Countries by the Sustainable Markets Initiative Insurance Task Force at COP26.
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