Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Facility Receives $2.4 Million from Ireland

The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) announced that the Irish government has approved a $2.4 million contribution to the Caribbean risk pooling fund. “The contribution is the latest addition to the donor fund supporting the CCRIF, which was launched at a pledging conference in Washington DC in February 2007,” the bulletin noted.

Brendan Ryan, the Irish Government’s Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank, said the decision to support the Facility was taken late last year, adding that the “success of the Facility’s first year bodes well for its future.” He described the donation as “a signal of the faith the Irish Government has in the Facility and a show of support for the Caribbean governments that have taken a pro-active stance towards disaster risk mitigation by becoming members of the CCRIF.”

Bahamian Prime Minister and the current chair of Caricom, the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, expressed his appreciation on behalf of the CCRIF member governments for the contribution. He stressed: “The consequences of climate change are severe for Caribbean governments, particularly increasing our exposure to natural disasters and making pre-disaster planning paramount. The additional funds contributed by Ireland will further strengthen the Facility and thus the Caribbean governments it serves.”

Last year pledges totaling $47.7 million were made by Canada, the World Bank, the United Kingdom, France and the Caribbean Development Bank. A further $19.5 million was raised in the form of a Participation Fee from each CCRIF member country.

The CCRIF is the first multi-country risk pool in the world, and is also the first insurance instrument to successfully develop a parametric policy backed by both traditional and capital markets. It is a regional insurance fund for Caribbean governments designed to limit the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes to Caribbean governments by quickly providing financial liquidity when a policy is triggered. Sixteen countries count themselves members of the fund: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Source: CCRIF – www.ccrif.org

Topics Catastrophe