[Event Recap] Global Risk Financing Facility (GRiF) Technical Talks Webinar #7 – 3 Years of GRiF: Implementation Highlights

The seventh webinar of the Global Risk Financing Facility (GRiF) Technical Talks took place virtually on May 5, 2022. The webinar featured an overview of the key findings, main implementation highlights, and lessons learned from 2021 GRiF Annual Report. The session also highlighted one of the most innovative projects of the year, the Jamaica Catastrophe Bond. Olivier Mahul (Practice Manager, Crisis and Disaster Risk Finance, World Bank Group) in his opening remarks, briefly discussed the origins of GRiF and the importance of GRiF in helping develop innovative financial resilience solutions to cope with climate shocks and disasters. Nicola Jenns (Disaster Risk Finance Advisor, Foreign, Development & Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom) also provided the open remarks where she recapped some of the GRiF grants and major achievements of GRiF over the past 3 years. 

The opening remarks were followed by 3 lightening presentations.   

• Ronette Jordan (Disaster Risk Management Specialist, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction & Recovery, World Bank Group) presented an overview of GRiF and how it works. 
• Simon Hagemann (Financial Sector Specialist, Crisis and Disaster Risk Finance, World Bank Group) presented the highlights of the GRiF Annual Report. 
• Naomi Cooney (Senior Financial Officer, Capital Markets and Investments, World Bank Treasury) presented an overview of IBRD Catastrophe Bond for Jamaica Hurricane Risk. 

The lightening presentations were followed by a Q&A session where the speakers answered audience questions. The webinar was facilitated by Kaavya Krishna (Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Crisis and Disaster Risk Finance, World Bank Group). The virtual session had over 130 registrations and included donors, client representatives, international organizations, private sector companies, non-governmental organizations, and academia.   

The GRiF Technical Talks feature a series of short virtual sessions, providing an overview of GRiF as well as lessons learned from innovative projects around the world.   

To access the resources for all the Webinars so far, click here.