Jonathan Gonzalez, Raincoat & Carolyn Kousky, Insurance for Good & EDF: Insurance for Good (329)

Jonathan Gonzalez, CEO & Co-founder of Raincoat, takes the reins as guest host to explore one of the most pressing challenges in insurance: the disaster insurance gap. Jonathan speaks with Carolyn Kousky from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), about the rising economic losses from climate disasters and the need for more inclusive and innovative insurance solutions.

Carolyn discusses her extensive research on climate risk management and disaster recovery, while also introducing her nonprofit initiative, ‘Insurance for Good’, which aims to bring together policymakers, insurers and community leaders to create practical solutions. 

Jonathan and Carolyn dive deep into how parametric insurance, policy innovation and collaboration can redefine resilience in a world of escalating climate risk.

Key talking points:

• The scale of the disaster insurance gap: two-thirds of global disaster losses remain uninsured
• How parametric insurance tailors solutions to underserved communities and specific disaster needs
• Affordability challenges and public-private partnerships as key levers for change
• Using insurance innovation to cover non-property losses, such as lost income or higher living costs after disasters
• The role of ‘Insurance for Good’ in building a hub for education, innovation, and implementation
• Why regulatory frameworks need to adapt to new insurance models like parametric solutions
• Inspiring collaboration across sectors, from housing to climate adaptation, to enable sustainable resilience
• Carolyn’s optimism about how partnerships and innovation can address systemic climate challenges

If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.

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Continuing Professional Development

This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme.

By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives:

• Explain the role of public-private partnerships in fostering innovative insurance solutions.
• Specify the advantages and limitations of parametric insurance in addressing non-property losses.
• List the key factors contributing to underinsurance in high-risk areas.

If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 329 page of the InsTech website or email [e-mail] to let us know you have listened to this podcast.

To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.