Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change 2025

6.4 Interventions Insurers can take proactive measures across the value chain to build resilience against climate-health challenges and capture opportunities. Insurance interventions TABLE 9 1 Close the coverage gap with tailored insurance products and distribution channels Affordable insurance products for low-income communities can expand an insurer’s customer base while offering quick financial relief for climate-related health shocks. They protect vulnerable households from harmful coping strategies. For example, a Japanese insurer launched a single-day heatstroke micro-insurance policy costing around $0.73, and nearly 7,000 policies were sold on a single hot day, highlighting a new customer segment.80 2 Design innovative climate-health insurance products Insurers can develop creative products for emerging climate-health risks, such as parametric insurance, which pays out in response to specific triggers (for example, temperature, air quality) – offering fast, transparent relief and specialized health riders for climate-exacerbated conditions. Short-term cover, like the single-day heat insurance mentioned earlier, can protect informal workers exposed to high-risk conditions. In 2024, the Women’s Climate Shock Insurance Programme, backed by the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and Swiss Re, provided parametric heat insurance and cash assistance to approximately 46,000 women in informal work facing extreme heat, paired with an early warning system.81 Temporary premium waivers can also be used to support health during natural disasters, building customer goodwill and community trust. In response to rising heat-related health risks in Japan, Sompo Japan enhanced its personal accident insurance to expand the scope of the coverage for heatstroke. Initially launched as an optional benefit in 2021 for children frequently engaged in outdoor activities, the policy provided fixed payments for outpatient care, hospitalization, surgery or death due to heatstroke. The increased risks, intensified by extreme heat and ongoing mask use, led to expanded eligibility across age groups in 2022, and by early 2025, heatstroke coverage had become a standard feature. This reflects an industry-wide change among Japanese insurers, which are offering heatstroke coverage in response to growing public concern and climate- induced health challenges.Innovative insurance solutions for treating climate-driven disease BOX 12Insurance value chain Product development and distribution Underwriting Care and prevention Claims management Interventions for consumers1 Develop tailored insurance products and distribution platforms for underinsured and vulnerable communities. 5 Research to understand the climate impact on health to improve modelling of future claim frequency/severity.7 Institute preventative care programmes at the individual and community level (e.g. air conditioning, food as medicine).9 Fast-track claims management for objective triggers during acute events. 2 Design innovative products to meet changing needs, e.g. parametric and temporary waiver insurance.6 Integrate multimodal data (e.g. meteorological and wearables) to dynamically determine risk and update models, guiding premiums and coverage.8 Incentivize health- protective behaviours through differentiated premiums or other structured rewards. 3 Expand range of existing products/ add-ons to encompass coverage for growing climate-health risks. 4 Strengthen advisory services and educate customers to raise awareness of growing climate-health risks and reduce risk exposure and subsequent payouts. Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change 38