DISASTER RISK FINANCE INSTRUMENTS: FINANCIAL PROTECTION OF PUBLIC ASSETS THROUGH PUBLIC ASSET REGISTRY AND RISK TRANSFER

Disasters can damage publicly owned buildings and infrastructure assets, disrupting their services and impeding the smooth functioning of economies and societies. In addition to physical damages of the infrastructure assets, the disruption to public infrastructure services—such as for energy, water, transport, health, and education—lead to greater knock-on impacts on the broader economy and livelihoods. Many assets are publicly owned, and governments are responsible for their operation. After a disaster, governments often assume a significant proportion of the recovery and reconstruction costs for infrastructure, particularly for uninsured publicly owned assets; these costs that are incurred in the event of a disaster are contingent liabilities. Governments also face reduced revenues when economic activities are disrupted, including activities of their own revenuegenerating public assets. This reduction can create a significantly adverse fiscal impact, which leads to a slower recovery. Securing funding for the reconstruction of damaged assets after a disaster to enable service recovery is therefore of great importance to governments.