2024 update:
In January 2023, UNICEF launched the Today and Tomorrow Initiative (TTI), which has received since its launch three industry awards for innovation. The ultimate goal of the TTI is to reduce the number of children directly impacted by climate-related disasters and to build the resilience of children, households, and communities to multiple hazards. The Initiative delivers financial and technical assistance to reduce children’s exposure and vulnerability to climate change and disasters, engages children and young people in solutions, and strengthens essential social systems and services for children. The Initiative is designed to help narrow the climate and disaster protection gap for vulnerable children and communities and to increase the speed, quantity, and quality of climate and disaster risk finance (DRF) targeted for children.
As of the end of Year 1, much progress has been achieved, including the following highlights:
Placing TTI’s parametric insurance: To place the bespoke parametric insurance for the 3-year pilot, UNICEF undertook an open and inclusive due diligence and brokering process under its Rules and Regulations during Year 1. This resulted in a in highly efficient pricing at the lowest possible end of a competitive global reinsurance market. With the help of leading firm WTW, participating insurers XL Insurance Company SE, Allianz Risk Transfer, Lloyd’s Syndicate 033 (Hiscox), Lloyd’s Syndicate 1458 (Renaissance Re), and Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE are providing a combined cover of US$ 99,613,645 as of the end of Year 1, to cover up to an estimated 13.5 million children and families in TTI’s current 8 target countries.
Institutionalization: The TTI is a flagship initiative under UNICEF’s Sustainability & Climate Change Action Plan (SCAP) 2023-2030, launched in November 2023. As exemplified by TTI, sustainable and innovative financing is pivotal to realizing SCAP’s ambitious goals, which include directly supporting 30 million children across 100 countries by 2030 through integrated climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction solutions.
Speed of TTI payouts for use in the field: Through developing and refining TTI’s operating procedures and processes agency-wide, by the end of Year 1 UNICEF was able to accelerate the release of TTI payout funds to the field to within 36-72 hours from an event payout notification. This improvement highlights the substantial reduction in time needed to release funds to country offices, enabling more immediate funding for responses after a cyclone. This strategic achievement was made possible through strong collaboration with our private sector partners, marking the first time that UNICEF and the insurance industry have worked together in this way.
Global recognition: The TTI has gained significant global recognition, winning three major awards with its partner WTW: the AXCO Global Insurance Award: Excellence in Global Programmes, the Sustainable Insurance Initiative of the Year Award at Insurance ERM’s inaugural Climate Risk & Sustainability Awards 2023 and the Systemic Risk Solution of the Year Award at the European Risk Management Awards. The TTI was also featured at COP28 in Dubai, the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, and highlighted in a UNFCCC submission supporting the Loss and Damage Fund.
Impact:
UNICEF has paired the insurance payouts with US$ 6.9 million in resources for DRR, CCA, and anticipatory action interventions in the 8 pilot countries. This achievement was made possible by embedding the TTI as a flagship under UNICEF’s SCAP (2023-2030), ensuring that funds are effectively utilized to meet our target to directly support 30 million children in 100 countries with integrated climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction solutions by 2030. These investments have enabled UNICEF to reduce disaster risks for children and build multi-sectoral resilience across the pilot countries by working closely with line ministries to strengthen government systems, including the shock responsiveness of key social services. Vulnerable children and communities in 8 countries were directly supported with climate resilience measures, including:
- Climate-resilient, low-carbon healthcare facilities and healthcare services
- Climate-resilient WASH facilities and services
- Climate-resilient schools and education services
- Climate-adaptive and/or shock-responsive social protection systems for vulnerable children and households in areas affected by cyclones and other climate hazards
- Climate-information systems including subnational children’s climate risk data
- Child-responsive preparedness and early warning
- Capacity development and participatory mechanisms for children and young people to engage in DRR and green economy solutions
- Child sensitive climate and DRR policies
Through the tomorrow component UNICEF provides protection to children, women, and families through its climate risk insurance instrument for up to 13.5 million people in 8 countries across East and Southern Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific. In 6 of the 8 pilot countries, the cyclone policy triggered over US$ 4 million in insurance payouts during the 2023 period. 327,266 children, women, and vulnerable people directly benefitted from multisectoral disaster response and recovery. Interventions included: WASH, Nutrition, Education, Health, Humanitarian Cash Assistance, Transport/logistics, contingency supplies.
Commitment:
Today and Tomorrow Initiative (TTI) is the world’s first integrated climate and disaster risk finance instrument specifically targeted and designed for children. This climate financing solution uniquely combines climate resilience and risk prevention programmes “today” with an untraditional, innovative use of disaster risk transfer provided by the insurance market, which, in turn, invests in extra protection for children against the impact of cyclone events “tomorrow.” With partners, UNICEF will take this holistic risk financing solution to scale, reaching additional geographies and providing protection for children from other climate change driven hazards, building TTI into a Global Child-focused Climate and Disaster Finance Platform.
Already, the TTI pilot provides up to US$100M in insurance coverage against cyclones for 8 countries over 3 years. Over US$3.9M in insurance payouts has already been generated for 6 of the 8 pilot countries1 affected by nine cyclones in 2023. These payout funds are being utilized to supplement immediate disaster response, recovery and building back better efforts in partnership with governments to protect children/communities from future shocks. The Global Child-focused Climate and Disaster Finance Platform's expansion will address other natural hazards, including floods, drought, and heatwaves across at-risk countries, where
