CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) will create a Regional Reinsurance Facility with the aim of establishing a targeted, development-oriented special purpose reinsurance vehicle by 2030 (with a go/no-go milestone set for May 2027). The announcement came this week as the regional body, designed as a Caribbean catastrophe fund for governments, launched its Strategic Plan 2025 - 2030 at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
The timing is not coincidental. The post-disaster price shocks, “uninsurable” zones, and commercial squeeze on small businesses are burdening the Caribbean. After Hurricane Irma flattened thousands of structures in islands like Barbuda, international reinsurers drastically re-evaluated the risk of underwriting the region. Homeowners saw their property insurance premiums spike by up to 40 per cent in just two years. It is understood while primary insurers still write policies, they use underwriting rules to reject high-risk locations such as beachfront properties, low-lying coastal areas prone to storm surge or homes lacking upgraded structural reinforcement.
“We are looking to set up this facility within CCRIF, with the support of the World Bank as well as the B20, to help make sure the reinsurance is available and is affordable, so that they, in turn, can offer the product more affordably to their clients,” CEO of CCRIF, Isaac Anthony, told Guardian Media on the sidelines of COP31 on Tuesday.
Prior to the interview, Anthony sat on a panel to discuss the Strategic Plan. There, executive director of the Caribbean Climate Change Centre, Dr Colin Young, furthered the case.
“We know that the Caribbean is seven times more likely to be hit by disasters than most other parts of the world. What’s happening is that the risks are being spread across the entire space, which obviously is going to impact the ability of insurance, especially parametric insurance. So, it is from various work like in the World Bank what you see is that when you have a macro shock of something about 20 per cent or more of GDP, it takes an average of between five to seven years to get back to pre-shock GDP. But, on average, the region is suffering about two per cent of GDP per year,” Young said.
Parametric insurance is a type of coverage that pays a fixed, pre-agreed amount when a measurable trigger—such as wind speed, rainfall, or earthquake magnitude—is reached,
But the strategic plan takes it even further. Young said when disasters occur, money must be made accessible to those who need it faster.
“You have the parametric insurance that will come in 14 days after, and knowing beforehand how those monies would be channeled to who and to where within these communities, because you get the monies to a country in 14 days. The problem is, how do you get that money that is now within the treasury of the government to the affected community on the ground, who has immediate needs? I think we need to look at the whole end-to-end ecosystem to make this work and add value,” said Young.
Anthony said it is something CCRIF SPC has been looking into. He said the insurer does not necessarily want products for which it provides payouts that go through the government system, get stuck, and it takes a long time before people actually benefit.
“We want a mechanism whereby the funds can go directly to the people who actually need the support on the ground. So, clearly, that has to be a very important part.”
Jihyea Kim, who is the programme manager for Programming and Country Engagement Fund for responding to Loss and Damage, also sat on the panel. She stated, “Loss and damage is more than just about humanitarian assistance. It’s more than just about building back a building that was destroyed. It has to be about medium to long-term recovery. What it means for a family to get back up from the shambles they were in. What it means for a community to relocate from one location to another, not to just move, but to move with dignity. What does that mean in practice? I think these are the interesting elements that we hope to see in our BIM pipeline, where we not only see finance reaching a government, but also communities and families picking up their lives. In a way that they can sustain and they can recover for the long term.”
Anthony said the new five-year plan builds on CCRIF’s growth since its establishment nearly two decades ago, with a particular focus on increasing insurance coverage and helping Caribbean countries address the region’s significant protection gap.
He said CCRIF’s coverage to member countries has grown from approximately US$500 million when it began operations to US$1.8 billion, while cumulative payouts have reached US$500 million.
The organisation has also expanded beyond sovereign governments, providing parametric insurance to water and electricity utilities and the fisheries sector. Under the new plan, it intends to extend these services to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and other private-sector interests.
Anthony said the protection gap in developing countries remains as high as 65 per cent, meaning a significant portion of economic losses from disasters remains uninsured.
While Caribbean governments have increased their coverage, often using their own national budgets to pay premiums, he said further expansion would require additional financial support from development partners.
He also identified the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage as a potential source of support, particularly in helping countries finance insurance premiums.
However, questions remain about whether CCRIF can continue meeting its financial obligations as climate-related disasters become more frequent and intense.
Asked whether the possibility of several member countries requiring substantial payouts simultaneously posed a concern, Anthony acknowledged that it was a consideration for the organisation.
He said the regional risk-pooling model provided an important layer of protection by spreading exposure across countries in different geographical locations.
Anthony pointed to Hurricane Ivan, which affected several Caribbean territories, including the Cayman Islands, Grenada and Jamaica. While the economic impact on individual countries was severe, he said the combined losses represented a smaller proportion of the region’s overall gross domestic product.
He maintained that the likelihood of multiple disasters affecting every member country simultaneously remained relatively low.
However, he acknowledged that climate change was increasing the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, pointing to recent events as evidence of the growing pressure on the region.
CCRIF does not retain all the risks associated with the policies it underwrites. Instead, it transfers a significant portion to international reinsurance companies, allowing it to meet substantial claims without relying entirely on its own capital.
The proposed regional reinsurance facility would introduce an additional layer of protection, this time specifically targeting domestic insurance companies.
For Caribbean households and businesses, the success of the initiative could ultimately be measured by whether insurance remains accessible in areas increasingly exposed to climate hazards.
With the proposed May 2027 go/no-go milestone approaching, CCRIF’s plans will now have to move from strategic ambition to a practical financing mechanism capable of addressing one of the Caribbean’s growing economic vulnerabilities.
