Start Network and Aon launch reinsurance mechanism to strengthen climate crisis funding

Start Network, a coalition of over 50 humanitarian charities, and Aon, a global re/insurance broker, have partnered to launch an innovative reinsurance product to strengthen Start Ready’s ability to provide early, anticipatory funding for climate crises.

This mechanism provides a crucial reinsurance layer of protection to Start Ready, a global pooled fund designed to enable early and anticipatory action through prepositioned funding for predictable climate risks.

It has been designed to ensure that Start Ready can still support communities if the fund runs low due to higher-than-anticipated spending for crises.

Combined with advanced financial modelling, this tailored solution allows Start Ready to manage its entire risk pool more efficiently and predictably, enabling it to reach more communities facing climate threats.

By leveraging advanced financial modelling, the fund can strategically stretch its available resources, committing more funds than it physically holds based on the probability of events occurring.

The new reinsurance solution directly addresses the challenge of multiple simultaneous crises, allowing Start Ready to continue disbursing funds and ensuring communities still receive timely support.

Anna Farina, Head of Crisis Anticipation and Risk Finance at Start Network, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Aon to design and implement an innovative and groundbreaking mechanism that enhances protection for vulnerable communities across our nine countries of operation.

“Thanks to this insurance layer, Start Ready funds can be stretched even further enabling more people to be protected and more resources to be disbursed ahead of specific climate events. This is a significant step forward in scaling anticipatory action and building greater resilience where it’s needed most.”

This collaboration marks a transformative shift in humanitarian financing, the firms stated. It provides protection across multiple crises by insuring a portfolio of anticipatory action systems on an aggregate loss basis, effectively safeguarding pooled humanitarian funds from insolvency.

This ensures that life-saving support can continue even when several crises strike at once.

The initiative is also set to maximise the efficiency of the Start Ready pool, stretching funding and ensuring support reaches communities when they are needed the most.

Furthermore, it enables more predictable and flexible disaster risk financing, expanding Start Ready’s ability to protect at-risk communities across more countries. This collaboration also leverages donor funding to attract private capital, moving beyond traditional financing models towards more innovative and diversified solutions.

Emma Karhan, Head of Public Private Partnerships at Aon, said: “We are proud to work with the Start Network on this groundbreaking insurance mechanism. This initiative underscores our dedication to fostering resilience and providing innovative solutions for humanitarian efforts. With this reinsurance layer, Start Ready can extend its reach and impact, ensuring that more communities receive the life-saving support they need in the face of climate crises.”

To date, Start Ready has directly supported nearly one million people across more than 30 activations during the first three Risk Pools.

With Risk Pool four now live, the fund is set to protect 800,000 more people from climate risk, backed by 12 committed donors.

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