Can a regional insurance mechanism enhance resilience to slow onset impacts of climate change?

As the likelihood of adverse climate change impacts increases, adaptation and loss and damage are receiving greater attention in international climate governance. Insurance has repeatedly been raised in international climate negotiations as a potential loss spreading component of responses to climate change. More recent analyses of insurance for climate change-related losses have focused primarily on extreme weather events, such as cyclones. The role of insurance in addressing slow onset impacts, such as sea level rise, has been seriously questioned. We argue that a regional insurance mechanism could contribute to both adaptation strategies and efforts to address loss and damage by enhancing resilience to slow onset impacts of climate change. Further, we demonstrate how equity considerations underpinning the UNFCCC might be reflected in the design and operation of an insurance mechanism directed at slow onset impacts.