Boost to aid poor in climate disasters

BONN: Germany yesterday pledged $125 million (R17.9bn) to boost the work of an international insurance partnership that aims to cover 400 million more poor and vulnerable people against disaster risks by 2020.

That goal was first set in 2015 by the G7 group of wealthy nations, but the effort has now been expanded to bring in other partners, including the World Bank and an alliance of about 50 countries vulnerable to climate threats, including small island states like Fiji.

In July, Britain contributed R567m to establish a Centre for Global Disaster Protection.

Fiji’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said that when powerful Cyclone Winston hit his nation last year, tens of thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, and many households were uninsured.

“People protected by their wealth have no idea of the heartbreak of the poor when they lose their homes and livelihoods in climate-related disasters,” he said at an event to launch the partnership.

The InsuResilience Global Partnership will roll out innovative finance and insurance solutions for countries tailored to the needs and challenges of their poor people in particular.

Using the additional funds announced yesterday, the global partnership will also aim to expand schemes such as the NWK Agri-Services cotton company in Zambia, which offers weather and life insurance to small contract farmers and is already backed by InsuResilience. – Thomson Reuters Foundation