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International News

Climate change set to drive more deadly heat in South Asia

If warming hits 2C, the number of South Asians exposed to unsafe temperatures could rise two-fold, and nearly three times as many people could face lethal heat, the study said. In a region home to a quarter of the world’s population that could have a big impact on the ability of workers to produce crops in breadbasket regions such as West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh in India and Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan, study authors said.

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India delays big exports of AstraZeneca shot, including to COVAX, as infections surge

“We understand that deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income economies participating in the COVAX facility will likely face delays following a setback in securing export licences for further doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), expected to be shipped in March and April,” UNICEF said in an email. “COVAX is in talks with the Government of India with a view to ensuring deliveries as quickly as possible.”

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UK proposes requiring businesses to disclose climate risks by 2022

Under the TCFD’s(Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure ) recommendations, companies are urged to disclose the actual and potential impacts of climate change on their business, as well as explain how they identify and manage such risks and opportunities.A move to make such disclosure mandatory in Britain is seen as a big step towards a new set of global standards.The ministry said it was backing a move by the IFRS Foundation, which writes global accounting rules, to develop international sustainability-related reporting standards.

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Lloyd’s launches pioneering parametric earthquake insurance policy in New Zealand

The new product Bounce is designed to provide New Zealanders with affordable earthquake insurance and fast claims payments, to support customers’ needs following an earthquake and quickly cover immediate expenses incurred. It does this by tracking Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) which triggers payment at levels of 20 centimetres per second and above.

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Danish Red Cross launches world’s first cat bond for volcanic eruptions

Sponsored by the Danish Red Cross with support from insurance group Howden Group Holdings, the cat bond catastrophe bond aims to transform the way disaster aid is activated and deployed by mobilizing humanitarian assistance from global capital markets.

The cat bond aims to raise up to $3 million from investors for aid in the aftermath of an eruption. Initial investors are three insurance linked securities (ILS) specialists, Plenum Investments, Schroder Investment Management and Solidum Partners.By using advanced modeling developed by Mitiga Solutions and blockchain technology developed by Replexus, the bond will raise humanitarian funds in advance, and allow aid to be released more quickly and effectively while offering uncorrelated returns for investors.

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