Catastrophe insurance programs for public assets - operational framework
Natural disasters in APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) economies have significant impacts on the economy and daily lives of the population. To minimize those impacts, a comprehensive policy package is required. The establishment of an insurance scheme to support the financial protection of public assets against disasters can form an important part of this package, alongside the use of complementary financial instruments within a broader disaster risk financing strategy, and investments in quality, resilient infrastructure and buildings to prevent losses.
This report has been produced at the request of the Working Group on Regional Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (DRFI) Solutions for APEC Economies to contribute to the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meetings. It aims to synthesize peer-to-peer learning among APEC economies into a document that provides useful, practical guidance to finance officials about the design and implementation of catastrophe risk insurance programs for public assets1 based on case studies of APEC economies and beyond.
The case studies identify seven key activities in the design and implementation of disaster insurance schemes for public assets (see figure 1). Within each of the activities, economies can learn valuable lessons from the success and failures of schemes globally. These elements are further outlined in the figure. The activities are numbered within this report, but it should be noted that the activities are interconnected and are therefore not sequential.