China is spreading the use of insurance to cope with climate change damage

Chinese policymakers in recent years have already persuaded hundreds of millions of farmers there to buy agricultural insurance, forming a capability of covering losses worth 1.4 trillion yuan ($225 billion) in 2013. Climate risks are known as the biggest danger for losses in agriculture.

"Although the government subsidizes the insurance purchase, at least 20 percent of the insurance premiums still come from farmers' own pockets," said Tuo Guozhu, an insurance expert at Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, reports Coco Liu, a correspondent for the Environment & Energy Publishing.