Partner: Climate Resilience for All
Grant amount: US$1 million over 1 year

Overview

Climate Resilience for All (CRA) is a global NGO dedicated to protecting the health and livelihoods of women and vulnerable communities from extreme heat.  With Quadrature Climate Foundation’s support, CRA launched the Women’s Climate Shock Insurance and Livelihoods Initiative (WCS) in India, to help build resilience, reduce vulnerability, and provide women and vulnerable communities with interventions they need to safeguard their livelihoods and protect their health in an increasingly hotter world. directly to women working in the informal sector when there are harmful heat waves. 

The challenge

The increasing frequency of extreme heat is one of the most direct and dangerous manifestations of climate change, posing significant threats to human health, productivity, and the built environment. Temperatures over 40°C and even 50°C are becoming more common in many regions with extreme heat responsible for most weather-related deaths worldwide. By 2100 between 50% to 75% of the global population could be exposed to life-threatening heat and humidity.

Women are disproportionately affected by extreme heat due to a combination of physiological, social, and economic factors.  Yet there is a lack of data and awareness about this issue. And there is a need for tailored solutions for the more than 500 million women in the informal economy who are most exposed to extreme heat and highly vulnerable.

The approach

In 2023, CRA launched the Women's Climate Shock Insurance and Livelihood Initiative (WCS), a global initiative that combines financial and non-financial interventions, as well as early warning systems, to protect the health and livelihoods of women from the mounting impacts of extreme heat. In 2024, CRA launched the WCS in India in partnership with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and Swiss Re Public Sector Solutions.

WCS provides financial interventions to the most heat-exposed and vulnerable women in the informal economy. It combines cash assistance and a ‘micro-insurance parametric’ product to supplement wages lost to extreme heat. These micro-insurance policies pay out quickly when temperatures hit a pre-set threshold (in this case, 43 degrees). They can help women recover their losses, keep their families safe and fed, and protect their health amid the most brutal heat.  

In addition, small, direct cash payments, made at lower temperature thresholds, play an essential role in ensuring that even at lower (but still health-damaging) temperatures, women have a supplement for lost income and more decision-making power after a heat shock.  

When insurance and cash support is combined with other protections such as job-specific heat early warning systems and protective equipment such as tarps to cover roasting crops and cool boxes for meat and produce, women can get through a hot day safer and protect their health and income.

The impact 

During the heatwave in India in the summer of 2024, the initiative directly supported and protected the livelihoods and dignity of more than 50,000 low-income women in India. Many of whom work in the informal sectors which are disproportionately affected by extreme head. Impacts included:

• Heat-triggered insurance and cash payments totalling nearly $600,000 across 22 districts in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.
• Insurance payouts to 92% (46,242) of the women enrolled in WCS, providing critical financial assistance.
• The highest insurance payout occurred in Dungarpur district, totalling $19.80 per member, while other districts saw an average payout of $7.38.

CRA has used this evidence and its underlying research and campaigning to raise public awareness and increase heat literacy among policymakers globally, directly engaging with the UN Secretary General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat.

Looking forward

CRA continues to drive forward innovative programmes like WCS. CRA is scaling up and has already initiated an assessment in Pakistan and resilience-building projects in African cities such as Freetown, Sierra Leone. These projects involve developing market strategies, running awareness campaigns, and forming partnerships to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat on urban populations.

CRA continues to call for all stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, civil-society organisations, and local communities, to play a role in reducing the risks of extreme heat, protecting human health, and offering economic opportunities for all.

Photo credit: SEWA members, Ahmedabad, India, Geraldine Henrich-Koenis / Climate Resilience for All