Search Climate Insights Directory

Parametric insurance provides rapid liquidity by paying fixed amounts based on predetermined triggers rather than assessed losses. It is used across agriculture, renewable energy, infrastructure, and tourism to stabilize budgets and protect credit ratings. Implementation requires specific analytical, regulatory, and data capacities, with regional risk pools like CCRIF and ARC serving as key models for sovereign coverage. While high premiums and basis risk remain challenges, the document suggests using donor support and pilot projects to increase uptake.

Risk pooling aggregates risks across geographies or portfolios to lower volatility and reduce reinsurance costs, providing rapid, rules-based liquidity after disasters. These mechanisms, including parametric pools and catastrophe (CAT) bonds, address credit, liquidity, and market risks by combining exposures and transferring high-risk layers to global capital markets. Examples include the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), African Risk Capacity (ARC), and the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), which have provided millions in payouts for cyclones, droughts, and floods. Implementation requires specific internal and regulatory capacities, ranging from basic budgeting for premiums to the legal ability to issue sovereign CAT bonds. While risk pools can reduce costs by 40–50% compared to standalone insurance, challenges such as basis risk, data gaps, and budget trade-offs persist.

International public adaptation finance for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) averaged just over $2 billion annually in 2021–2022, representing only 0.2% of global climate finance. This is significantly below the estimated annual need of $11.7 billion required between 2023 and 2035. The report highlights a critical reliance on debt, which accounted for 44% of flows, and a lack of correlation between finance volumes and climate vulnerability. It advocates for replacing ODA eligibility criteria with a multidimensional vulnerability index to improve access to concessional funding.

The document examines the European Investment Bank's (EIB) involvement in development projects, particularly in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific (ACP) under the Cotonou Agreement. It highlights a gap between the EIB's financial activities and the EU's sustainable development and poverty eradication goals, noting a lack of transparent project evaluations and public consultation. The text concludes with recommendations for the EIB to adopt binding sustainability criteria and establish an independent inspection mechanism.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Accreditation Panel recommends the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for accreditation as a regional entity for 'small' projects (up to USD 50 million) with a high environmental and social risk category (Category A/I-1). The CDB demonstrated strong fiduciary standards, a track record of mobilizing approximately USD 200 million for climate action, and a robust gender equality policy. However, accreditation is conditional upon the CDB establishing a public system for reporting the progress of grant-funded projects and finalizing a permanent external communications mechanism for environmental and social complaints.

The ocean and coastal ecosystems are critical for global biodiversity, food security, and carbon sequestration, but they face severe threats from climate change and pollution. Despite an estimated annual funding need of USD 175 billion to USD 459 billion to safeguard the ocean, only USD 11 billion has been invested via philanthropy and Official Development Assistance over the last decade. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) aims to close this gap by creating enabling environments, catalysing innovation, de-risking projects to mobilise private finance, and strengthening national financial institutions through tools like blue bonds and debt swaps. Current GCF initiatives include the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, targeting 17 countries with a USD 500 million project value, and the Blue Action Fund, focusing on coastal resilience in the Western Indian Ocean region.

The Green Economy Coalition (GEC) aims to accelerate the transition to a green, fair, and inclusive economy by acting as a bridge between business, civil society, and government. The GEC operates as a global movement of over 50 organisations, focusing on four core activities: building a narrative of change, stimulating policy across five thematic areas, mobilising national leadership through dialogue, and expanding its network of allies. Its thematic priorities include reforming financial systems, greening economic sectors, tackling inequality, valuing nature, and improving economic measurement and governance.

The Green Economy Coalition (GEC) aims to mainstream the green economy concept by 2020, focusing on environmental limits, equity, and inclusion. Its strategy centers on four core activities: global advocacy to build a 'compelling story' of transition, collaborative action across five policy building blocks (measurement, finance, sectors, fairness, and nature), mobilizing national action through regional hubs, and expanding its network to 100 collaborating organizations. The GEC seeks to influence global institutions and national governments to adopt new economic performance measures, reform the finance sector, and integrate social fairness into green planning.

Global Witness calls for the Colombian government to ratify the Escazú Agreement, noting that 322 land and environmental defenders were killed in Colombia over the last 10 years. The statement highlights the Agreement's role in requiring governments to prevent and investigate attacks on defenders and notes that while Colombia signed the treaty in December 2019, ratification remains pending. It identifies the government of Gustavo Petro and the work of civil society organisations like Somos Defensores as key drivers for potential progress in protecting human rights defenders.

The document highlights that 322 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Colombia over the last ten years, alongside numerous non-lethal attacks such as threats and criminalization. It argues that the ratification of the Escazú Agreement—the first regional treaty for Latin America and the Caribbean on human rights and the environment—is essential to mandate the prevention and investigation of attacks against defenders. While noting that countries like Mexico, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina have already ratified the agreement, it points to the government of Gustavo Petro and initiatives like the 'Somos Defensores' program and its emergency plan as reasons for optimism in establishing a safe environment for environmental participation.

GreenLatinos' 2025-2028 Strategic Plan focuses on increasing the political influence of the Latino environmental community through the establishment of a 501(c)4 advocacy entity and a Political Action Committee (PAC). The organization aims to expand its state programs in Colorado, California, New Mexico, Illinois, and Texas, while increasing support for leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean to influence international climate and conservation frameworks. Key operational goals include launching a mission-aligned social enterprise and developing leadership programs for members.

The Latino Climate Justice Framework (LCJF) argues that systemic racism and economic inequity have placed Latino/a/x communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis, necessitating targeted policy solutions. It outlines a three-part strategy focusing on energy and economic justice, protecting vulnerable populations from climate disasters, and ensuring equitable representation and access to government services. Key priorities include transitioning to community-based renewable energy, protecting farmworkers from extreme heat, remediating abandoned oil wells, and addressing the unique vulnerabilities of Puerto Rico.

Key messages delivered by Kishan Khoday of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the UWI Regional Conference on Resilience to Hurricanes in the Caribbean on 2 October 2024, outlining UNDP's regional climate action, specific country initiatives, and future priorities for resilient development.

The document outlines a 20-hour self-guided virtual course on satellite data for environmental monitoring, specifically targeting researchers in Latin America and the Caribbean. The curriculum focuses on using Google Earth Engine to analyze tropical forests, land cover, and climate extremes through eight technical modules and six sessions. Participants engage in case studies involving deforestation, drought modeling, and air pollution, culminating in a final assessment requiring a 70% score for certification.

The document examines the multifaceted effects of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting vulnerabilities in artisanal fisheries, rural women's livelihoods, education, and public health. It argues that traditional top-down scientific and governance models are insufficient, proposing instead 'co-production' of knowledge and participatory water and land management to build regional resilience.

The document details the implementation of twelve CRN II projects focused on environmental change, biodiversity, and climate risks across the Americas. Key activities include the establishment of research sites in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, the development of geospatial databases for Caribbean coastal scenarios, and the analysis of tropical cyclones and paleotempestology. The IAI Directorate emphasizes interdisciplinary cooperation, such as linking biodiversity projects and integrating fishery information systems to improve policy relevance.

The IAI, ICSU-ROLAC, and UNESCO are forming a consortium to implement research, capacity building, and outreach programs in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) aligned with Future Earth themes. The partnership focuses on two primary goals: developing secure, low-carbon energy systems and integrating risk prevention and management to mitigate natural disasters. The consortium aims to strengthen interdisciplinary research involving social, applied, and natural sciences to generate policy-oriented outcomes for the region.

The proposed consortium between IAI, ICSU-ROLAC, and UNESCO aims to implement an interdisciplinary research and capacity-building program in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on sustainable energy and risk prevention and management within the Future Earth framework.

The IAI Directorate report details the closure of the SGP-CRA program, which leveraged US$ 26 million to advance research on oceanography, cyclones, and hydrology, influencing legislation in Argentina and risk reduction in the Caribbean. It also highlights the ongoing CRN3 program, which employs interdisciplinary approaches and agent-based modeling to address global change, and the initiation of CONICET-IAI projects in Argentina. The report emphasizes the importance of early-stage interdisciplinarity and the development of an Inter-American Forum for Cooperation in Global Change Research to create a multilateral funding mechanism.

The document provides a framework for member countries to identify and nominate candidates for the IAI's Science Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC). It details specific selection criteria focusing on science policy expertise, experience with global and climate change, and international collaboration skills, particularly within the Americas. The process includes a call for applications, evaluation based on weighted criteria, and elections held during the IAI's Conference of the Parties (CoP) meeting.