Cayman Islands, 3 December 2025. In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which left thousands of low-income Jamaicans struggling to rebuild their lives and livelihoods, a groundbreaking parametric insurance product, the Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP), is being launched in Jamaica this week.

The LPP is a parametric microinsurance product designed specifically for groups most exposed to climate shocks yet traditionally excluded from formal insurance markets. Some of these groups include small farmers, fisherfolk, market, food and craft vendors, seasonal tourism workers, day labourers, amateur entertainers and micro- and agri-entrepreneurs among others. By providing fast cash payouts within 14 days of extreme rainfall or wind events, the LPP is designed to empower these groups and households to recover quickly, avoid falling into poverty, and protecting their futures.

Following Hurricane Melissa, CCRIF made record-breaking payouts of US$91.9 million (J$14.8 billion) to the Government of Jamaica under its tropical cyclone and excess rainfall policies, within 14 days of the hurricane. The launch of the LPP now extends this protection directly to households and low-income groups, ensuring that resilience is built not only at the national level but also at the community level. Together, CCRIF’s government/sovereign policies and the LPP form a comprehensive disaster risk financing framework, that would enable Jamaica to respond faster and more equitably to future climate shocks.

The LPP was first piloted under the Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean (CRAIC) Project, implemented since 2011 by the MCII in collaboration with CCRIF SPC and the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility, with financial support from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Government of Germany. Within the Federal Government, the IKI is anchored in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).

The CRAIC Project piloted, tested, and refined the LPP across five Caribbean countries, ensuring that the product reflects the realities of low income and vulnerable groups and lessons learned from addressing early skepticism around insurance. This collaborative effort has laid the foundation for scaling-up microinsurance in the Caribbean region, embedding the LPP within broader resilience and social protection strategies.

In Jamaica, the LPP will initially be sold through Guardian General Insurance Jamaica Limited, ensuring trusted local distribution and immediate accessibility. Beyond Jamaica, the LPP will also be available in 2026 in Belize, Grenada, and Saint Lucia, extending its benefits to vulnerable communities across the wider Caribbean. Guardian General will work with a range of distributors and aggregators, including credit unions and cooperatives, to make the LPP easily accessible.

With the launch of CCRIF’s new Microinsurance Facility in partnership with Celsius Pro and its subsidiary, Global Parametrics, in June of this year, multiple insurers across the Caribbean and Central America will be able to distribute the LPP and other inclusive insurance products. This will expand reach, strengthen competition, and ensure affordability and scalability of microinsurance solutions.

Hurricane Melissa underscored the urgent need for accessible financial protection. Farmers lost crops, fisherfolk were unable to go to sea, and market vendors saw their daily incomes vanish. For many, recovery has been slow and remains uncertain. The LPP offers a new safety net, ensuring that when the next storm comes, affected individuals will have immediate resources to replant, repair, restock, and rebuild. According to CCRIF CEO, Isaac Anthony, "Hurricane Melissa reminded us that disasters do not only damage homes – they disrupt lives and livelihoods. The Livelihood Protection Policy is about restoring dignity and resilience, giving low‑income and vulnerable groups across the Caribbean the means to recover and bounce back faster. By embedding the LPP within national disaster risk resilience frameworks, the region is positioning itself as a global leader in livelihood‑focused climate risk financing. This launch represents a critical step toward scalable, shock‑responsive social protection that can be replicated across the Caribbean and beyond."

Strategic Benefits of the LPP

• Fast payouts: No lengthy claims process - cash within days.
• Equity and inclusion: Designed for those most exposed to climate-related events and least protected.
• Financial empowerment: Improves creditworthiness and access to financial services.
• Policy alignment: Supports Jamaica’s disaster risk management, social protection, and climate adaptation strategies.

Resilience starts with protecting what matters most - your livelihood and your family.

All LPP target groups, including farmers, fishers, market and food vendors, taxi drivers, construction workers, seasonal tourism workers, amateur musicians, microenterprises are encouraged to ask their local credit unions, cooperatives, and Guardian General Insurance Limited about enrolling in the LPP today.

For more information on the LPP visit the CCRIF website at: https://www.ccrif.org/livelihood-protection-policy-lpp

MCII:

"As Tropical Cyclone Melissa in Jamaica reminds us, no community or small business is immune to the growing threat of climate-related disasters," said Prof. Swenja Surminski, MCII Chair. "The Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP) provides a tool to help safeguard livelihoods and support entrepreneurs across value chains throughout the Caribbean. Resilience must extend beyond households to also protect the small businesses that drive local economies."

"The launch of the Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP) in Jamaica is the result of years of collaborative work and commitment to protect those most vulnerable to climate shocks," said Soenke Kreft, MCII Executive Director. "With CCRIF now hosting and scaling the LPP, and Guardian General Insurance Limited taking the lead as insurer, we are entering a new phase of Caribbean-led innovation in climate and disaster risk financing."

ILO Impact Insurance:

"The ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility is pleased to contribute to the CRAIC project to test new approaches such as the LPP to protect the backbone of the Caribbean economy – the small business sector – plus individual workers and households against climate risks. Using this insurance solution, they will be able to quickly resume operations, keeping workers employed, protecting livelihoods and incomes."

Guardian General Insurance Jamaica Limited:

"Guardian General Insurance Jamaica Limited is proud to lead the underwriting and distribution of the Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP) in Jamaica. The Policy reflects Guardian General’s deep commitment to the people and businesses of Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. In the face of intensifying climate risks, the LPP offers a vital safety net—delivering swift, transparent payouts that protect livelihoods, preserve jobs, and help communities bounce back with dignity after disasters like Tropical Cyclone Melissa. We are proud to partner with CCRIF in taking the next step."

CelsiusPro Group:

"The Natural Disaster Fund plays a central role in advancing CCRIF’s microinsurance facility and extending natural disaster protection to households, workers and small businesses in the Caribbean and Central America." -Mark Rueegg, CEO CelsiusPro Group

About CCRIF SPC:

CCRIF SPC is the Caribbean and Central America Parametric Insurance Facility and Development Insurer. It is the world’s first multi-country, multi-peril risk pool based on parametric insurance and the leading provider of parametric insurance for Caribbean and Central American governments, as well as electric utility companies and water utilities. CCRIF offers parametric insurance for tropical cyclones, excess rainfall, runoff, earthquakes, and the fisheries and electric and water utilities sectors – insurance products not readily available in traditional insurance markets. CCRIF SPC is a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated, and registered in the Caribbean. It limits the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes, and excess rainfall events to Caribbean and Central American governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a parametric insurance policy is triggered.

About the CRAIC Project

The Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean (CRAIC) Project is a long-term regional initiative led by MCII, in partnership with CCRIF SPC and the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility. This project is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Government of Germany. Within the Federal Government, the IKI is anchored in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN). Since 2011, CRAIC has worked to close the climate protection gap for vulnerable populations by developing and scaling the Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP) – a parametric microinsurance product that provides fast and reliable financial support after extreme weather events. The LPP has been developed for Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Belize, and Trinidad & Tobago to meet the needs of low-income, climate-exposed communities across the Caribbean.

About MCII

MCII is a non-profit organization, created in 2005, by representatives of insurers, research institutes and NGOs in response to the growing realization that insurance solutions can play a role in adaptation to climate change, as suggested in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. As a leading think tank on climate change and insurance, MCII is dedicated to enabling capacity building and developing solutions to combat the risks posed by climate change for frontline communities in developing countries. This initiative is hosted at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).

About ILO Impact Insurance

The ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility enables the insurance industry, governments, and their partners to realize the potential of insurance for social & economic development through reduced vulnerability, promoting stronger enterprises and facilitating better public policies. Our partners’ work generates knowledge for improved practice which assists the availability of quality insurance for the developing world's vulnerable communities to help them guard against risk and overcome poverty.

About CelsiusPro Group and The Natural Disaster Fund (NDF)

CelsiusPro Group provides climate and natural catastrophe risk transfer solutions using satellite data to automatically pay out when extreme events hit. Our platform solutions integrate climate data and risk modelling which enables insurance companies and brokers to distribute and manage tailored parametric insurance at scale.

The Natural Disaster Fund, managed by Global Parametrics, a CelsiusPro subsidiary, is a public-private partnership capitalised by commitments from the UK government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Germany's development bank KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The NDF provides a Technical Assistance grant supporting CCRIF to establish a digital insurance platform in collaboration with CelsiusPro. This platform will allow CCRIF to onboard local insurance partners to the program which will enable maximum outreach and operational efficiency for scaling protection across the region.