Canada announced a contribution of C$50m to the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance on Saturday, aiming to help people in developing countries protect themselves against the economic consequences of more intense and increasingly frequent natural catastrophes like severe flooding, droughts or heavy storms.
The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced Canada's contribution, saying that insurance helps poor and vulnerable countries build resilience to the impacts of climate change by covering a portion of the risks that arise from natural hazards and extreme weather events.
McKenna said that Canada is already a leading contributor in supporting climate risk insurance in developing countries, notably through its participation in the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility. Since its inception in 2007, the Facility has made 13 payouts for hurricanes, earthquakes and excess rainfall totalling approximately US$38m to eight member governments.
Canada's contribution to the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance will help to stimulate greater coverage of effective climate risk insurance markets in countries that are the most vulnerable to natural disaster, McKenna said. She added that this latest announcement is just part of Canada's pledge of C$2.65bn over the next five years to support developing countries' transition to low carbon economies that are both greener and more climate resilient.
"The risks and costs of climate change on developing countries are very significant and Canada is proud to do its part in providing greater access to insurance," McKenna said.
The G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance aims to increase the number of people covered by this kind of insurance by 400 million by 2020, giving protection against the risks of extreme weather events such as severe flooding, droughts or heavy storms.
