TONGA is working in partnership with key parametric insurance companies like the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assurance Company (PCRIC) while developing parametric insurance in the island kingdom.
This is according to Tonga Meteorological Service director Laitia Fifita, who was speaking at the Workshop on Climate and Disaster Risk Finance in the Pacific 2025, held in Nadi this week.
He said this was for tropical cyclones, earthquakes and tsunamis and drought.
“Tonga has already, through the Ministry of Finance, established its Disaster Risk Strategic Financing Policy 2021 to 2025, and, it’s to provide the interconnectedness of disaster risk and the financing side of things at the national level through providing some risk layering,” he said.
Mr Fifita said Tonga is structuring itself at national level to adapt to or adopt accessibility to funding mechanisms in terms of insurance, and payouts from different donor partners such as the World Bank, ADB, and PCRIC.
“It’s really important that the Ministry of Finance in Tonga has developed that for Tonga in terms of the climate and disaster risk financing strategy policy to guide us in a more coherent way of addressing the issues of climate change, severe weather and related disasters.
“Not only that but the importance of also acknowledging the multi-hazard early warning side of things, its interconnectedness to the disaster risk finance strategy/policy at the national level as well.”
Mr Fifita said the importance of Tonga’s preparedness before natural disasters was a key lesson learned from the previous years.
“I think one of the key important aspects that we need to look at is how we position ourselves and develop a policy that is enabling and an enabling environment that allows us to access other different levels of insurance and also the payouts when they do occur.”
Mr Fifita said small Pacific Island countries that do not have disaster risk policies in place yet should consider having one.
NOTE: This article was first published in the print edition of the Fiji Times dated FEBRUARY 22, 2025.
