Swiss Re Donates $70,000 for Jamaica Water Cleanup

Swiss Re has recognized the Nature Conservancy for its commitment to sustainable watershed management in Jamaica. The reinsurer announced that as part of its International ReSource Award competition, it has given the organization $70,000 to help fund a river clean-up project.

The award will be presented at a ceremony in Kingston on Sept. 27 in the presence of representatives of The Nature Conservancy, the Jamaican government and Swiss Re.

“The objective of the project is to significantly reduce the use of illegal poisoning agents to harvest fish, shrimp and crayfish in Jamaica’s Rio Grande valley,” said the announcement. “The Nature Conservancy wants to eliminate these unsustainable inland fishing practices by the end of 2008 by educating local communities on the dangers of river poisoning, mobilizing them to safeguard their own rivers and promoting sustainable and viable alternative fishing methods.”

Jean-Jacques Henchoz, CEO of Swiss Re’s Canadian P/C operations noted that “as a company that supports the insurance market in Jamaica and the Caribbean region, it is Swiss Re’s pleasure to bestow this honor on an eminently worthy project. Swiss Re seeks to leverage its financial strength and expertise to effect positive change for the environment.”

He added: “Unsustainable trends which threaten our natural resources and social coherence are likely to create new risks and thus raise the loss potential for the insurance industry. For this reason, Swiss Re has a large stake in the sustainability of our world and that carries with it a great responsibility to ensure sufficient resources are allocated to the stewardship and protection of our planet.”

The International ReSource Award 2007 also recognized a project based in Ethiopia, which aims to improve water availability for household activities and small-scale production by installing water harvesting techniques.

Source: Swiss Re – www.swissre.com