Insurance as a catalyst for government climate planning? A framework for analysing drivers and barriers, tested against evidence emerging from Sub-Saharan Africa
This paper investigates the potential catalyst role of insurance for climate adaptation and how climate risk information emanating from insurance processes can support a move towards anticipatory climate risk management, which includes loss prevention and adaptation. The research considers and identifies the boundaries, conditions and influencing factors for using climate risk information, learning from the experience with climate services and take this concept into a developing country context, characterized by low insurance penetration and relatively low level of government planning. The problem is first analysed from the perspective of insurers in Africa through survey data and expert discussion and then underpinned by evidence emerging from three case studies from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania. This analysis offers a new perspective on the catalyst role of insurance by focusing on underpinning political economy factors, particularly incentives and relationships that influence this process. Overall there appears to be clear scope for a dynamic interaction between insurers and other actors such as governments, planners, property developers, investors, farmers, or individuals where symbiotic use and generation of climate risk information can advance mutual goals. However, that ambition can face many challenges that go beyond availability and suitability of data: limited trust, unclear risk ownership or lack of incentives can provide key barriers, even if there is motivation, risk-awareness and overall buy-in into the need to manage climate risks. All three cases show the importance of sustained engagement and capacity building to increase awareness of the role of insurance-related climate risk information and its potential benefits and uses. Importantly, a key consideration when building technical capacity targeting the correct actors who can make decisions and have the agency to alter processes.