Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
AS one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in Southeast Asia and, in fact, the entire world, the Philippines has routinely suffered tremendous financial losses from natural calamities. While we have become somewhat accustomed to this, it nonetheless represents a serious, continuous obstacle to our growth and progress. With the impacts of climate change becoming ever more acutely felt, this problem is only going to get worse, which is why institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank are encouraging countries like the Philippines to build up their insurance sectors. We believe this is a good piece of advice.
According to a recent ADB publication, the Asia-Pacific region, which includes Southeast Asia and the Philippines, has the worst catastrophe protection gap in the world. The indicator describes the difference between optimal and actual climate- and calamity-related insurance coverage. In Asia-Pacific, that gap is a shocking 92 percent, meaning that a percentage of losses that could or should be covered by insurance are not; the average for the rest of the world is 58 percent.
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