Statement delivered by Mr. Aholotu Palu, CEO, Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC)

Statement delivered by Mr. Aholotu Palu, CEO, Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC)

V20 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE X

16 April 2023

Mr. Aholotu Palu, CEO, Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC)

Good afternoon,

Honorable ministers,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I’m very pleased to be invited to the 10th V20 Ministerial Meeting and to deliver this intervention as the Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company, or PCRIC for short. PCRIC was established in 2016 to provide innovative financial products and services to support Pacific island countries to respond to disasters quicker and more effectively. 

As CEO of PCRIC, it is my honor and privilege to participate in these discussions on our future in the face of ever-increasing risks and how we can use pre-arranged financing to be resilient to disasters with a more proactive approach to disaster risk management.

While we have made great progress over the past 7 years, the reach of disaster is growing and our member countries are more fiscally constrained than ever before. We continue to make investments to ensure our products can build the resilience of the Pacific region, but it is clear that our member countries need premium subsidies to ensure the coverage we offer is comprehensive and can make a real difference when disaster strikes.

Indeed, in her opening remarks on scaling up resilience and sustainability financing on Monday, Dr. Georgieva emphasized the need for subsidized financial instruments to tackle climate and disaster risk. And if this is not provided, then the key multilateral institutions represented in this room would be failing their member countries. I thank Dr. Georgieva for her leadership in recognizing what is desperately needed for these tiny nations in the Pacific continent that are facing an existential crisis from the impact of climate change.

In response to the challenges our countries face in 2021, BMZ provided 9 million Euros specifically for premium subsidies for Pacific Island countries to access policies from PCRIC. Following the interventions of the Finance Secretary, Patrick Langrine of the Marshall Islands during the last ministerial meeting, these funds currently held in the Global Risk Financing Facility are due to be transferred to PCRIC in the coming months via the Global Shield window of the V20 Joint Multi-Donor Fund.

We are already working with these organizations in this room through this process, but we encourage our partners to ensure the full 9 million Euros is received by PCRIC in the coming months, so our member countries are protected for multiple years. It will also mean we can expand our reach across the Pacific to cover additional members. 

Mr. Chair, I wish to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge the critical role of the World Bank in having the vision to drive efforts towards building financial resilience in the Pacific region. It was through these efforts that PCRIC was created and not to forget our donors for their continued support. 

Mr. Chairman, let me conclude by saying that PCRIC on behalf of the Pacific region is looking forward to working in partnership with the G7, the V20, the World Bank, and other development partners to ensure this much needed support reaches our tiny island states over the coming months, and to support the realizations of the G7-V20 Global Shield, and closing of the disaster protection gap in the coming years. 

I thank you for your attention. 

[END]