23 August 2011: The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize their growing collaboration in assisting Caribbean countries to develop climate change adaptation strategies.

The CCCCC is the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) focal point for climate change issues. The CCRIF is a risk pooling facility owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean for Caribbean governments designed to give them an opportunity to purchase least-cost earthquake and hurricane catastrophe coverage.

The objective of the MOU, which was signed in Belmopan, Belize, on 9 August 2011, is to help Caribbean governments better understand the risks of climate change to their economies. The preliminary results of a study done on the economics of climate change adaptation in the Caribbean conducted by CCCCC and CCRIF, with analytical support from McKinsey & Co. and Swiss Re, found that annual expected losses from wind, storm surge and inland flooding currently approach 6% of GDP in some Caribbean nations and under some climate change scenarios that amount may increase by 1-3% of GDP by 2030.

The MOU calls for cooperation in: developing and enhancing use of tools in the areas of catastrophic risk modelling, parametric insurance and alternative risk transfer; developing new programmes and initiatives to help Caribbean governments better understand and finance catastrophic risk exposures; sharing knowledge and pooling resources and expertise in the development of strategies to enhance and leverage support for climate change adaptation; supporting national policy frameworks dealing with climate change adaptation; and seeking access to international funding for climate change adaptation though mechanisms such as the Adaptation Fund. [CCRIF Press Release]