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October 28, 2024

UNDP and Jupiter Intelligence Partner to Boost Climate Resilience in Developing Countries

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In a groundbreaking new partnership, “Data for Climate Resilience and Development,” the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Jupiter Intelligence are teaming up to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time: climate change resilience in developing countries. 

This collaboration between UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility and Jupiter’s The Jupiter Promise will leverage cutting-edge climate risk data and analytics to inform critical public financial management decisions and bolster climate adaptation strategies.

The Urgent Need for Climate Risk Data

This partnership between UNDP and Jupiter Intelligence addresses a widening gap in climate resilience for developing countries. 

In 2023 alone, global economic losses from disasters reached $380 billion, with a staggering 69% of these losses uninsured. Developing countries have been disproportionately impacted, with almost 70% of climate-related disasters over the past five decades occurring in the world’s 46 poorest countries. 

Most urgently, data reveals that in developing countries, an average of 95% of climate risk losses remain uninsured.

This staggering statistic underscores the vulnerability of these countries to the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters. Without adequate insurance coverage, the financial burden of these events falls directly on households, businesses, and governments, stretching budgets beyond breaking points and threatening to reverse development gains.

The lack of comprehensive climate risk data contributes significantly to this insurance gap. Without precise information and analysis, governments, insurers and other stakeholders face significant challenges in developing adequate climate risk management strategies and financial resilience programs.

“Without drastic improvements in data and analytics to inform public financial-management of rising climate risks, countries will fall short of their economic and development goals,” said Jan Kellett, Global and Corporate Lead on Insurance and Risk Finance at UNDP. “This partnership between UNDP and Jupiter Intelligence is both an active step towards providing governments with urgently needed climate-risk information and a call for greater integration of climate-risks into countries’, businesses’ and farmer’s sustainability strategies.”
Building Climate Resilience Through Risk-Informed Decision-Making

UNDP and Jupiter are working with governments to provide specific climate-risk data based on country development priorities such as agriculture or small businesses resilience. Jupiter will provide critical data and analytics on climate related disasters such as extreme heat, precipitation, flooding, and drought, all of which impact livelihoods, business continuity, agricultural productivity and overall resilience.

These tailored climate-risk insights will strengthen key development frameworks, inform financial decisions, and help governments select the right risk management solutions, such as insurance, to protect people and infrastructure. 

By providing Jupiter's advanced climate analytics to governments, this ambitious public-private partnership aims to:

  • Increase national stakeholder understanding of climate risks through accurately assessing, quantifying, and analyzing data 
  • Strengthen the effectiveness of adaptation strategies
  • Enhance public financial management decisions related to climate resilience
  • Inform the selection or design of innovative insurance risk finance programs
“Jupiter’s mission with The Jupiter Promise is to arm the world’s most vulnerable with climate data and analytics so they can identify new ways to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate,” said Rich Sorkin, CEO and co-founder of Jupiter Intelligence. “We are honored to work alongside the UNDP’s IRFF team to assist developing countries facing significant challenges in tackling climate risks due to insufficient climate-data and analytics.”
Added Hannah Hampson, senior scientist at Jupiter Intelligence, "The reality is that in developing countries, 95% of climate risk exposures remain uninsured, leaving communities and economies incredibly vulnerable to climate shocks. Through this partnership with UNDP, Jupiter's advanced climate analytics will help bridge this critical protection gap by providing the data-driven insights needed to develop targeted resilience solutions. By combining Jupiter’s scientific expertise with UNDP's development experience, we can help governments and insurers better understand, quantify, and ultimately protect against climate risks that threaten millions of lives and livelihoods."
Launching Globally: Tanzania and Ethiopia Lead the Way

UNDP and Jupiter will initially work with five developing countries across the globe, with Tanzania and Ethiopia confirmed as the first two partners. While both countries are highly vulnerable to climate risks, additional key factors informed the country selection. These include readiness to incorporate climate-risk analytics into national frameworks as well as the opportunity to leverage UNDP’s active insurance programmes and engagement with relevant Ministries.

Ethiopia’s change in extreme heat (number of days above 38 degrees Celsius) from historical conditions to the year 2050. This analysis can help inform vulnerabilities to drought, which is the costliest hazard in the country and has had a significant impact on vulnerable populations, affecting more than 100 million people over the last four decades.

“Water is intimately linked to food security, in Ethiopia and globally. With 60 percent of households in Ethiopia dependent on agriculture as their main source of income UNDP is committed to building the resilience of farming and pastoral communities facing prolonged dry spells, drought, late and early-onset of the rainy season and flooding, all leading to water stress. Accurate data and analytics will strengthen UNDP’s efforts as well as open new pathways for government to protect households from rising climate risks.” said Samuel Gbaydee Doe, UNDP Ethiopia Resident Representative

Added Redeit Girma Hailu, National Coordinator Ethiopia, UNDP Insurance and Risk Finance Facility, “This new partnership between UNDP and Jupiter Intelligence marks a crucial step toward addressing the need for reliable and high-quality data, providing regulators in Ethiopia with a solid evidence base to create frameworks that encourage innovation in the country’s insurance and fintech industries.”

Tanzania’s change in extreme precipitation (100-year maximum 24 hours precipitation) from historical conditions to the year 2050. This analysis can be used to model and prepare for flood vulnerabilities which affect over 150,000 people annually and result in direct economic losses estimated at US$28 million per year, with the agriculture sector being the most affected. 

“While data has posed challenges in Tanzania’s efforts to tackle climate risks, this partnership between UNDP and Jupiter Intelligence will bring essential climate insights to empower sectors like agriculture, disaster risk reduction and energy. With better decision-making tools, we can strengthen resilience to build a sustainable future for Tanzania.” said Josephine Douglas Laswai, National Coordinator Tanzania, UNDP Insurance and Risk Finance Facility

Jupiter's gold-standard climate risk analytics cover 22.3 billion locations globally, including 22,700 metrics across multiple climate perils and economic impact indicators. Through the UNDP-Jupiter partnership, this wealth of data will provide advance disaster risk finance strategies, enhance social protection schemes, and risk-inform Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

A Resilient Future Through Collaboration

As climate change continues to pose unprecedented challenges, public-private partnerships are increasingly crucial in building a more resilient future. By bridging the climate data gap, developing countries can make risk-informed financial decisions, protect vulnerable communities, and build a more resilient world for all.

This collaboration marks a significant step forward in Jupiter’s global efforts to address climate change impacts. The company looks forward to sharing the outcomes and learnings from this partnership as it progresses in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and beyond, contributing to a more climate-resilient and sustainable future for vulnerable communities worldwide.

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