Following COP21, African Risk Capacity announced it had rounded-up over $150 million in pledges during the Paris climate change conference from donors including the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, France, and Canada.
As a specialized agency of the African Union to help member states improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters, the ARC is the most prominent of three “risk pooling” initiatives, together with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility and the Pacific Risk Pool.
AU member countries sign up receive payouts earmarked for relief efforts when hit by extreme weather events and natural disasters and the ARC has already paid out $26 million to Senegal, Mauritania and Niger to help them deal with recent droughts.
About the author
Bill Hinchbergerhinchberger
Bill Hinchberger is a global communications professional and educator. He studied at Berkeley and has taught at the Sorbonne. Based mostly in Paris, he spends quality time in Brazil and the United States, and works extensively in Africa and Latin America. He has served as an international correspondent for The Financial Times, Business Week, ARTnews, Variety, and others. One current focus of his work is content creation for foundations, NGOs and other organizations, especially those working on issues related to international affairs, the environment and development. He also runs training programs for professional journalists, notably in Africa, and is an associate of Rain Barrel Communications, a leading consultancy for social justice projects.
