Climate Resilience for All

Climate Resilience for All congratulates our Deputy Chair, Emma Howard Boyd CBE, on today's release of the London Climate Resilience Review! And bravo to Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan for his leadership and foresight. 🎊 The 'Howard Boyd Review' gathered evidence and input from every aspect of life and work in London and delivers 50 thoughtful, well-supported recommendations directed at stakeholders across the city and the UK government. Recommendation #9 is focused on #extremeheat - and the creation of a strategic plan for London for adapting to higher temperatures and mentions the potential to name heat waves the way hurricanes are named to bring awareness, actionable guidance, and illness and mortality prevention. From the review: “The “silent killer” of heatwaves could claim up to 10,000 lives annually in the UK without concerted action, with the most vulnerable at greatest risk. Physical and mental health can be severely impacted: the Committee heard that suicide risk is twice as high in the UK when the temperature was 32°C rather than 22°C.” (source: The Environmental Audit Committee). Congratulations again to Emma Howard Boyd, George Leigh, and Johanna Sutton for the deep and wide technical and intellectual work that went into this crucial contribution to the field of urban climate adaptation planning and action. Now, every city's mayor can show this #climateresilience leadership - this review shows the way. 👉

📣📣NEW STORY FROM Devex📣📣 Climate Resilience for All's Women's Climate Shock Insurance Initiative featured in in-depth reporting by Catherine Davison, with keen insights from Ekhosuehi Iyahen, Abhiyant Tiwari, and our CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod. "The financial protection has enabled the women to continue paying for essentials such as food and school fees even when they were unable to work, Baughman McLeod said. But it also helped them to avoid vicious debt cycles and potentially exploitative situations, and retain “self-respect, dignity, credit worthiness — status in the community,” she said. “Isn’t that all we want — for women to have choice and power and opportunity?” Catherine Davison of Devex astutely captures the nuances and promise of parametric insurance to address extreme heat for vulnerable communities - particularly when combined with other supports to reduce the risks and impacts of heat. She also explores the limitations and data challenges we have to overcome to expand, scale, and perfect these multifaceted approaches as climate-driven heat accelerates. ⭕️Key excerpts: ✅“We could do a much better job if we just spent a little bit more time putting money ahead of these disasters.” - Ekhosuehi Iyahen And ✅The broader impacts on development could be catastrophic. “Capital will not flow where it does not understand the risk,” Iyahen said. And from Abhiyant Tiwari of NRDC India: ✅Tiwari agrees that the focus needs to be on longer-term mitigation. He was involved in designing India’s first Heat Action Plan in Ahmedabad City, which uses a color-coded early warning system to disseminate alerts via SMS and radio and helps hospitals to prepare ahead of hot days. The initiative, which has since been rolled out across other cities in India, is estimated to avert over 1,100 deaths in Ahmedabad each year. Thanks Devex🙏 Rachel Kyte Emma Howard Boyd CBE Leslie Johnston, M.Sc. Francis Bouchard Nigel Topping, CMG Nathanial Matthews, PhD Emma Ludvigsson Jesper Hörnberg Mary McBryde Veronica Scotti Geraldine Henrich-Koenis Christina Stanton Visalaakshi Annamalai Elodie de Warlincourt Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eyRGN6YQ

🌏 Read the newest story in our series "Blazing Realities: Field reports from the frontlines of extreme heat."   As temperatures hit 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on a recent day in New Delhi, Jyoti Ubreja and her two nieces found themselves in an argument with a customer at their dried fruit and nut stand in a historic New Delhi street bazaar.   The buyer wanted cashews, but he accused the women of cheating him on price, as all four of them, sweating profusely, huddled under an umbrella providing a bare minimum of protection from a blazing sun and waves of heat radiating from the baked concrete pavement.    Offended, Unbreja called the customer mad and he stalked off - another sale lost on yet another scorching day when few people had ventured out to shop. Read the full story ➡ https://lnkd.in/er6V2wfm Written by Aradhna Wal with accompanying photos by Bhumika Saraswati.

Climate Resilience for All, with our CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod, was so pleased to co-host the Women Climate & Health Leaders gathering with Wellcome Trust and Emma Howard Boyd CBE of the #LondonClimateResilienceReview. The collective positivity was contagious (no pun intended) and the expertise in the room was far-reaching and impressive. We know the challenges are many, but coming together can lighten the load - and the smooth the road ahead. 💡 Thank you Alice Bell for the hospitality - and special thanks to Alan Dangour for your kind words and human spirit. We all left feeling more connected. 🤗 Was lovely to see Malini Mehra, Laurie Goering, Jessica Brown, Laura Clarke OBE, Clare Ballantine, Hannah Torkington, Sharon Johnson, and Tricia Keller - and to see and be inspired by so many other colleagues. 🙏 It was the perfect way to power up for another day at #LCAW. 🆙 🆙 🆙 When women are climate resilient, we will all be climate resilient.

✨ CRA’s work was featured in the New York Time’s today! “I was very surprised. I had never heard about insurance that would cover my inability to work in the heat,” Ms. Ahir said (a 55-year-old grandmother of two who goes to work before sunrise to keep her city from drowning in its own trash.) A tiny insurance program is now saving her from drowning in debt. Thank you to Somini Sengupta and The New York Times for covering our work and for helping put a spotlight on solutions to extreme heat. Through our in-person interactions with the women in Ahmedabad and New Delhi this week, we saw firsthand their strength in the face of extreme heat, and how even small amounts of money can have a profound impact on their lives. When women are climate resilient, we will all be climate resilient. https://lnkd.in/ey-zdrMX

We are wrapping up our field visits in India with our partner the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA). We have learned so much about the way the Women’s Climate Shock Insurance & Livelihoods Initiative (WCS) has impacted the lives and livelihoods of the 50,000 participants and SEWA members. Through roundtables and visits with members in their place of work or their homes, we now understand better the health effects of heat and the exponential and long-lasting chain of harm and income loss. We also learned how much the two forms of financial support (cash assistance and insurance payouts) meant to their physical and mental health, food security, children's education, medical expenses, and sense of dignity and self-respect. SEWA reports that membership in the union is growing in part due to the benefits of WCS and this includes significant aspects of financial inclusion. Word is getting around! We look forward to sharing more about their stories of strength, ingenuity, and resilience, the learning from the entire program, and the quantification of benefits and impacts. Thank you to SEWA's wonderful leadership and team for your wisdom and hospitality - and to our supporters ClimateWorks Foundation, Howden Foundation, Prudence Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and Swiss Re. Special thanks to Rachel Kyte, Emma Howard Boyd CBE, and Veronica Scotti. Christina Stanton, Kathy Baughman McLeod, Mary McBryde, Geraldine Henrich-Koenis

Our CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod joined USA TODAY’s The Excerpt to discuss how extreme heat 🔥☀️is impacting people and economies, how to prepare for a hotter world, and examples of solutions to keep people safe. #extremeheat #climateresilience https://lnkd.in/d4R4eYi6

It's gratifying to see the media getting a tighter grip on the magnitude of extreme heat's impacts around the world. Thank you CNN & Becky Anderson for inviting our CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod to your show - and for your focus on the effects of #extremeheat on the lives and livelihoods of people in marginalized and low-income communities. And - your focus on solutions is spot on. There are so many - and the time for rapid, massive investment in them is now. 🌳 🌳 🌳 https://lnkd.in/e4fEjbiy

Over the last several weeks, India has experienced one its longest and most devastating heat waves. Our CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod talked with CNN's Anna Coren about our work with the Self Employed Women's Association and Swiss Re to design, build, and deliver an innovative package of financial and other supports. The Women's Climate Shock Insurance & Livelihoods Initiative (aka WCS) is focused on supporting informal women workers who are losing income from the health and physical effects of climate-driven extreme heat. The combined insurance and cash assistance means more than $600,000 paid directly to 50,000 women across 22 districts in three states. Women report having the choice to protect their health by staying home or working less, enough food for their families, sending children to school, and feeling a renewed sense of dignity. Thank you, CNN and Anna Coren for covering this good news story in a world of tough stories of vulnerable communities being ravaged by climate impacts. When women are climate resilient, we will all be climate resilient. https://lnkd.in/eqP4V5N5

📣📣 BREAKING NEWS   📣📣 CRA is proud to announce that 50,000 women workers, members of our partner organization, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) received payments for income loss resulting from blistering heat in India as a part of our Women’s Climate Shock Insurance and Livelihoods Initiative (WCS). With life-threatening heat extremes expected to last longer and occur more frequently, today our financial protection initiative that combines insurance, cash, and soon, an early warning system, has helped secure livelihoods for low-income women. 🌟 Extreme heat temperatures in India triggered insurance and cash payments in the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, across 22 districts totaling almost $600,000.  🌟Ninety-two percent (46,242) of the 50,000 women enrolled in the WCS received insurance payments totaling $341,553 (2.84 crores) in 16 districts in two of the three states, with the highest insurance payout in Dungarpur of $19.80 per member. The average insurance payout was $7.38. 🌟All enrolled members received ~$5.00 in cash assistance given that every district reached 40°C/104°F. 🌟WCS participants report increased food security, new credit worthiness, credit for kids’ school fees, and a renewed sense of dignity. We would like to extend our deep gratitude to all the partners that provided financial and technical support. Together we made a tangible impact on women’s lives and their families:  ClimateWorks Foundation, the Howden Foundation, Prudence Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Self Employed Women's Association, Sahil Hebbar, Rajvi Joshipura, and Swiss Re Read more about the WCS https://lnkd.in/evV4qeVW Thank you, Reemaben Nanavaty, and all SEWA Sisters - for your trust and partnership.