During the COP21 climate change talks in Paris Tuesday morning, President Obama pledged a $30 million U.S. contribution, courtesy of the American taxpayer, for “climate risk insurance” in countries that might be affected by things like storms or floods or other such disasters that are -- of course -- caused global warming.
The State Department, headed up by our very own global warming town crier Secretary John Kerry, released the announcement Tuesday morning following a meeting between Obama and leaders of some small island nations.
From the press release:
Today, at a meeting with leaders of small island nations, President Obama announced a U.S. contribution of $30 million to climate risk insurance initiatives in the Pacific, Central America, and Africa. As part of a broader set of actions to help vulnerable populations strengthen their climate resilience, from providing climate data, tools and services, to incorporating climate resilience considerations into development assistance, the contributions announced today will increase climate risk insurance coverage to help respond to severe climate-related impacts.
This announcement is an important step toward the goal G-7 leaders set this summer to increase by up to 400 million the number of people in the most vulnerable developing countries who will have access to insurance against the negative impact of climate change hazards by 2020. U.S. funds will support insurance initiatives under the Pacific Catastrophic Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative, expand the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility to cover Central American countries, and support the African Risk Capacity program.
The revolving door of U.S. cash to help deal with climate change didn’t start with this $30 million. On top of the unending cash flow we’ve already allotted to deal with our own battles with global warming, President Obama has also vowed the U.S. will contribute $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, a global initiative to help underdeveloped countries fight climate change. The program carries an overall financial goal of about $100 billion.