Serbia and North Macedonia, two Balkan countries situated in Southeast Europe, are strongly affected by extreme weather events. Over the last years, excess rainfall, long-lasting precipitation periods and snowmelt have caused unprecedented floods. In May 2014, Serbia suffered the heaviest rainfall and worst flooding since records began 120 years ago, causing losses above USD 2 billion. More recently, heatwaves, which led to a drop in agriculture output of nearly 10%, have underscored the threat of climate change in the region. Consequently, the awareness of climate risks and its negative impacts on the livelihoods of farming households has risen significantly.
With the Grant Agreement signed between the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, as implementing agency of the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF), and the joint partnership of Europa Re Ltd. and local partners, the ISF is actively supporting Serbia and North Macedonia to increase its capacities to cope and adapt to increasing climate risks. Within the project, ISF provides grants for co-funding the development of two different climate risk insurance schemes tailored to the individual needs of the two partner countries: a national and a municipal climate risk insurance scheme. The innovative insurance approaches to be developed with the support of ISF will help to increase the climate resilience of farmers and vulnerable families in rural areas of Serbia and Northern Macedonia.
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