Natural Catastrophe Risk Insurance Mechanisms for Asia and the Pacific

This summary reviews the key issues and discussions that occurred during the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Conference on Natural Catastrophe Risk Insurance Mechanisms for Asia and the Pacific held in Tokyo on 45 November 2008. The conference featured a general plenary session followed by a day of focused workshops. The summary concludes with a series of recommendations based on the conference results. The key finding of this report is that many opportunities exist for transferring natural disaster risk in Asia and the Pacific if addressed
within a regional publicprivate partnership (PPP). That partnership must necessarily include national governments, all regional development partners and institutions, and key private sector players, both global and local. The opportunities discussed in this report will largely remain opportunities unless obstacles and gaps in knowledge, research, and experience are bridged. A regional approach to bridging these gaps, involving all critical parties, represents the best chance to unlock the resources necessary to move the region forward to better disaster risk management (DRM).