Pacific Regional Dialogue on Financial Management of Climate Risks

Event: 'Pacific Regional Dialogue on Financial Management of Climate Risks’
Location: Apia, Samoa
Dates: June 26-28 2017
Twitter: #CDApia

Rising seas & extreme weather huge strain on the Pacific. UNDP facilitating dialogue on #climate insurance https://t.co/jAYgkYAzph #CDApia pic.twitter.com/096G5zoA0f

— UNDP Climate (@UNDPClimate) June 23, 2017

Background

Event Objectives

• To discuss the need for additional financial management of climate change induced risks in the Pacific island countries; 
• To increase understanding of the options, gaps and challenges in managing and mitigating risks; 
• To explore the potential for a Pacific Island Climate Change Insurance Facility that is dedicated to addressing climate change impacts, taking into account lessons learned from existing insurance arrangements;
• To explore funding options for developing such a Facility.

Summary

The workshop explored experiences of climate risk financing such as the Caribbean Risk Insurance Facility, the African Risk Capacity and the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Insurance Facility including insights into how they function and how they can be incorporated or developed further to assist the proposed Pacific facility.

Experiences were exchanged on other financial products that can be relevant in the Pacific. The dialogue also explored the investment potential and usage of the insurance sector in the Pacific, and the opportunities to strengthen the sector to help produce sustainable development outcomes. This included discussions on the opportunities for the sector to support resilience-building measures in the region. It discussed the gaps and challenges that insurance providers face in the Pacific and ways to overcome these.

Agenda

Please click here to download the final agenda.

Participant List

Please click here to download the participant list.

Presentations

Day One: Monday June 26, 2017

Session One

'The economics of climate change adaptation', Professor Dr. David N. Bresch, Institute for Environmental decisions, ETH Zurich and MeteoSwiss, Switzerland

'Priorities for climate change related financial needs in the Pacific and Financing for Development in Asia-Pacific', Iosefa Maiava, UNESCAP Pacific

'Financing climate change risks - increasing financial certainty in the face of climate and disaster risks', Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

Session Two

'Options for financial risk management and experiences in Asia Pacific region', Arup Chatterjee, Principal Financial Sector Specialist, Asian Development Bank

'The role of insurance and reinsurance in disaster risk management', David Simmons, Managing Director: Capital, Science and Policy Practice Willis Towers Watson 

'Swiss Re global partnerships: innovative insurance solutions for sovereign risk', Vicki Mullen, Vice President, Client Management ANZ

Session Three

'Aims, experiences, performance and lessons learned from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility', Isaac Anthony, Chief Executive Officer, CCRIF SPC

'African Risk Capacity: structure, operations, success stories and challenges', African Risk Capacity

'Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) Program, Phase II: Furthering disaster risk financed in the Pacific', Iulai Lavea, CEO, Ministry of Finance, Samoa

'Disaster contingent financing and policy-based lending: Cook Islands', Melinda Pierre, Development Programme Manager, Development Coordination Division, Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, Cook Islands Government

Day Two: Tuesday June 27, 2017

‘An overview of the insurance sector in the Pacific and recent initiatives’, Michael Carr, Chartered Insurer Regional Inclusive Insurance Specialist, The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme  

‘Sustaining growing Pacific lifestyles within climate change’, Stephen Grange, Capital Insurance Group  

‘The Pacific dimension: The role of the insurance sector in supporting resilience & the international reinsurance market view of the Pacific’, inure REinsurance Training & Solutions  

‘Reinsurance and the Pacific region – additional information’, inure REinsurance Training & Solutions  

‘Designing a Pacific Island climate change insurance facility: needs and opportunities’  Dr Ian Fry, Government of Tuvalu

Background Reading

Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Pilot - From Design to Implementation - Some Lessons Learned

Disaster Risk Finance as a Tool for Development: A Summary of Findings from the Disaster Risk Finance Impact Analytics Project

Highlights of the outcomes of the 4th High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development in Asia and the Pacific: Statement by the Chair, Hon Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka

The Commonwealth's Small States Digest, Issue 2, 2016: 'Climate Risk Management: Opportunities and Challenges for Risk Pooling'

Financing sustainable development: The critical role of risk and resilience

Information note: ESCAP and innovative risk financing for disaster risk reduction and resilience

In the News

'Climate Insurance Raised' June 27, 2017. Samoa Observer.

'Pacific Dialogue towards climate change risk insurance' June 27, 2017. Scoop NZ.

'Pacific Dialogue in Samoa initiates further steps towards critical climate change risk insurance for the region', June 30, 2017.