The United Kingdom has announced the launch of the Caribbean Water Utility Insurance Collective (CWUIC) as part of its aim to protect essential water and sanitation services in Caribbean countries at risk of natural disasters.

In a release, UK said it will invest $25 million towards this affordable insurance scheme.

The CWUIC, which will be part of CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility), will provide rapid pay-outs to repair services damaged by disasters such as hurricanes and floods.

With the risk of extreme weather increasing due to climate change, disaster risk finance schemes such as CWUIC reduce costs for the most vulnerable countries and enable faster recovery.

The investment is part of the UK's wider commitment to supporting the Caribbean in disaster resilience, the release said.

UK's Americas and Caribbean Minister David Rutley said, 'The people of the Caribbean are on the frontline of natural disasters, which are increasing in frequency due to climate change. This first-of-its-kind scheme will enable Caribbean countries to maintain essential services in the face of storms and floods, while greatly reducing the financial burden on individual governments.

He added that the UK is determined to play its part in helping small island developing states build resilience to extreme weather events with access to fairer and reliable funding.

This investment into CWUIC is part of the UK's contribution to the G7/V20 Global Shield against Climate Risk that was launched at COP27, he said.

CWUIC will be co-funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Coca-Cola Foundation.

It is hoped the scheme will soon expand to provide insurance cover for droughts and other hazards, the release said.

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