CCRIF Collaboration Aims To Reduce Impact of Barbados Wildfires

CCRIF SPV is collaborating with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to reduce the impacts of wildfires on the people, communities, and economy of Barbados.

CCRIF has provided a grant of approximately $25,000 to the Centre for Biosecurity Studies at UWI's Cave Hill Campus for a project focused on understanding the impact of climate change and wildfires in Barbados. Wildfires are common during the dry season in Barbados, pose a risk to health, lives, crops, and property, and can deplete scarce water resources.

"At CCRIF we will continue to provide resources for the implementation of projects like these across the Caribbean," CCRIF CEO Isaac Anthony said in a statement. "These projects that are part of our Small Grants Program are key to building the resilience of our people, communities and organizations to natural hazards and climate change."

CCRIF said an important component of the collaboration with UWI will be conducting risk communication training for news media and other organizations. The training is being designed to increase public awareness about the relationships among climate, fires, water infrastructure vulnerability, and environmental and human health impacts, as well as actions individuals can take to protect their health.

This latest CCRIF project with UWI is being implemented under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between UWI and CCRIF that has been in place since 2010. The MOU provides a framework for collaboration on disaster risk management and climate change adaptation projects, delivery of courses on disaster risk financing, and the provision of scholarships and internships to students. Since 2010, CCRIF has provided UWI with more than $1.6 million in resources.

Previously known as the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company, CCRIF SPC is a segregated portfolio (SP) company that is owned, operated, and registered in the Caribbean. It limits the financial impact of such disasters as catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes, and excess rainfall events on Caribbean and Central American governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a parametric insurance policy is triggered.

CCRIF's parametric insurance was specifically designed to cover high-intensity, low-frequency events and provide quick liquidity within 14 days of an event if a policy is triggered.

CCRIF offers parametric insurance products to 19 Caribbean governments, 4 Central American governments, and 3 Caribbean electric utilities.

CCRIF SPC was developed under the technical leadership of the World Bank and with a grant from the government of Japan. It was capitalized through contributions to a multidonor trust fund by the government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the United Kingdom and France, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments.

Since its inception in 2007, CCRIF has made 60 payouts totaling $261.8 million to 16 of its members.