The Insurance Development Forum (IDF) and the French Development Agency Group (Agence Française de Développement and Expertise France – together “AFD Group”) are delighted to announce the formation of the Integrated Disaster Risk Management Alliance (IDRIMA).
Signed at the IDF Summit 2024, this unique strategic partnership aims to strengthen the long-term resilience of sovereign, sub-sovereigns and public utilities in the Global South to the impacts of climate disasters through comprehensive financial solutions, combining the expertise of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Public Development Banks (PDBs), and insurers.
Michel Liès, Chair of the IDF Steering Committee and Chair of Zurich Insurance, said: “The IDF and its members are at the forefront of recognising the essential role of insurance in enhancing resilience and adaptation. This alliance with the AFD Group is a significant step forward in our mission to integrate disaster risk management with climate adaptation strategies. By embedding risk management measures and actions into financial solutions from the outset, we can offer better protection measures to sovereigns in addition to ensuring critical infrastructure in the Global South is resilient to disasters over the long-term. This partnership will also help protect essential services such as water and energy, ultimately enhancing the stability and sustainability of communities vulnerable to disaster impacts.”
Christine Poursat, head of AFD Financial Systems said : “Tackling the impacts of climate change requires an unprecedented effort across all sectors of society. The IDF and AFD Group’s joint commitment aims to accelerate the identification and adoption of comprehensive financial solutions to better protect against climate disaster risks. The alliance will leverage on the private insurance industry’s expertise and work closely with PDBs to develop robust solutions for vulnerable countries, enhancing resilience and adaptation to climate change.”
IDRIMA Context
The annual COP negotiations have highlighted the critical need for Climate Resilience, Adaptation, and Loss and Damage considerations within climate finance. Key financial stakeholders, public and private, are joining forces and expertise to deepen their cooperation.
The Commitment
The IDRIMA Operational initiatives will initially focus on three key areas to provide critical support and expertise and embed issues of risk management, risk financing and insurance into the development of comprehensive financial solutions for Sovereign, Sub Sovereign, Public Development Banks and Public Utilities which are engaging with the AFD Group:
- Policy Dialogue: better integrating insurers’ expertise into policy dialogues, offering insights on disaster risk reduction measures.
- Default Protection Cover: investigate ways to design and offer protection against sovereign and sub-sovereign defaults in the event of major climate events.
- Public Asset Financing and Protection: test utilities’ appetite for portfolio-level protection for priority assets against climate risks and financing premiums for protection implementation.
In parallel with the IDRIMA operational initiative, the partnership also involves advocacy and engagement initiatives aimed at increasing the level of collaboration between the public, private and development sectors. The advocacy and engagement initiatives will in particular help share and disseminate this expertise among local and regional public banks.
