The Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA) was launched in October 2018 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with the mandate to encourage the development of measures to manage the effects of climate change through technology, planning and investment. In 2019, the commission worked with more than 75 governments, institutions, civil society organizations and private-sector actors to advance eight action tracks which were outlined in the GCA flagship report alongside an ambitious call to action. The flagship report contributed to the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019 marking the start of the GCA’s Year of Action.
In collaboration with various Partnership Members, the InsuResilience Secretariat supported these efforts by informing the commission about the contribution of risk finance and insurance across the various action tracks and the corresponding role of the Partnership as a leading global platform. In particular, the Partnership forms part of the commission’s global-adaptation landscape as an action partner and main platform for the implementation of pre-arranged climate risk finance and insurance instruments in three of its action tracks: Finance and Investment, Food Security and Agriculture, and Infrastructure.
As part of a series of background papers that informed the flagship report, the InsuResilience Secretariat supported the Cass Business School in developing the background paper on insurance, by co-authoring alongside the Centre for Disaster Protection and the Insurance Development Forum. The paper provides detailed insight into opportunities, challenges and existing best practices for complementing climate adaptation efforts through risk-transfer instruments. A comprehensive list of policy recommendations is put forward at the end of the paper, including:
- Investing in open-source models that provide a long-term view of climate risk and link to insurance solutions.
- Fostering insurance innovations that can respond to a changing climate-risk landscape.
- Strengthening dialogue between insurers and policymakers around how to provide better reinstatement after disasters
- Converging insurance, humanitarian and development agendas
- Promoting and investing in risk literacy throughout society
For more information on the report and the background paper, visit https://gca.org/global-commission-onadaptation/report