The government of Samoa has introduced a new type of insurance aimed at assisting residents in dealing with natural disasters.

Created by Samoa Surety Insurance in collaboration with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), this parametric insurance proposition seeks to enhance disaster resilience and preparedness among Samoan people in the face of increasingly frequent climate-related risks.

This scheme was introduced by Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme over the past two years and has been launched not only in Samoa but also in Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu, according to an RNZ report.

During the pilot scheme launch, Laauli Leuatea Polataivao Fosi, the minister for agriculture and fisheries, highlighted the significance of this initiative as a crucial financial tool among Samoa's targeted financial solutions to mitigate the impact of extreme weather events.

“Cyclonic winds have devastated people's homes and investments and upended entire livelihoods. Innovative instruments like parametric insurance can provide people with a means to cope better with these impacts,” Fosi said. “The injection of funds to cater for immediate needs like food, water, home repairs and so on will also create more resilient communities.”

Elsewhere in the Pacific, the Fijian government has also committed to alleviating the financial burden of natural disasters on its national budgets by finalising its inaugural sovereign parametric insurance cover.

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