Press Release: EU supports global insurance fund to help ACP countries ‘weather future storms’ from climate change

The European Commission (EC) provided €24.5 million in funding as the first donor for the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF). The GIIF aims to mitigate weather and catastrophic risks in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries through the application of index insurance. Index insurance solutions guarantee beneficiaries, including smallholders, rapid payments following natural disasters once a pre-determined index (e.g. centimetres of rainfall, variation of temperature, wind-speed and seismic activity on Richter scale) has been triggered. Their application will allow ACP countries to mitigate the increasing risks from natural hazards due to climate change and to reduce the vulnerability of their populations. The GIIF will be implemented by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.