Key Highlights:
- Prudential plc invests $2.5 million in climate resilience initiatives in Asia and Africa.
- The investment, through Prudential’s Prudence Foundation, targets climate change impacts on health and fosters resilience, particularly for women.
- Prudential partners with Climate Resilience for All to address the disproportionate impact of extreme heat on vulnerable women.
- The initiative includes a $500,000 contribution to the Women Climate Shock Insurance and Livelihood Initiative, aiming to protect vulnerable women’s livelihoods from climate-driven heat.
- Diana Guzman, Chief Sustainability Officer of Prudential plc, underscores sustainability’s critical role in long-term resilience for customers, communities, and economies.
Prudential plc, a leading insurance company in Asia and Africa, unveiled its latest initiative to enhance climate resilience. Through its community investment arm, the Prudence Foundation, the insurer will inject $2.5 million into addressing the health impacts of climate change and bolstering climate resilience, especially for women.
The Prudence Foundation has introduced the Climate & Health Resilience Fund, a $2 million endeavor designed to offer financial backing to Prudential’s businesses in Asia and Africa. This fund empowers them to launch or support initiatives that combat climate-related health challenges and contribute significantly to building resilience in their communities.
Additionally, the Prudence Foundation has partnered with Climate Resilience for All (CRA), a global NGO focusing on safeguarding women in vulnerable communities from the effects of extreme heat.
Diana Guzman, Chief Sustainability Officer at Prudential plc and Chair of the Prudence Foundation, emphasized the alignment of their community investment strategy with their core business objectives. She stated, “Our community investment strategy is aligned to our business of offering protection, mitigating risk and helping people build a better future. We recognise that a changing climate impacts some communities disproportionately. Through the Prudence Foundation, we are investing in initiatives that assist communities in adapting to the effects of climate change and become more resilient to its current and expected impacts.”
Kathy Baughman McLeod, CEO of Climate Resilience for All, expressed gratitude for the partnership with the Prudence Foundation. She said, “Climate Resilience for All is delighted to be partnering with the Prudence Foundation to bring urgent support to women bearing the brunt of climate-driven extreme heat. Helping women prepare for heat waves by bringing timely and actionable guidance to them and their families is crucial to preventing unnecessary illness and deaths. We are grateful for the financial support that allows us to do this scalable life-saving work
The partnership with Climate Resilience for All includes a $500,000 contribution from the Prudence Foundation to CRA’s Women Climate Shock Insurance and Livelihood Initiative (WCS).
This initiative aims to safeguard the livelihoods and health of vulnerable women from climate-driven extreme heat through various resilience interventions, including early warnings and financial mechanisms.
One of the key features of WCS is the heat-health early warning system, which delivers actionable guidance via WhatsApp. This, combined with targeted heat-health awareness campaigns, aims to empower women informal workers in India to prepare for and recover from extreme heat events and lift themselves out of poverty.
Prudential’s sustainability strategy aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on objectives such as decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, and climate action.