MANILA—CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative, one of the leading climate insurance companies in the Philippines, continues to alleviate its efforts in forming strong partnerships with the CGIAR Hub for Sustainable Finance (ImpactSF), the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on January 22, 2024, in Manila, Philippines.

 CLIMBS top management headed by CEO and President, Mr. Noel D. Raboy, VP for Administration and Corp. Planning, Ms. Donna C. Dizon, along with Weather Protect Insurance (WPI) Project Manager, Mr. Rueland Mark Marapao, and Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT Senior Research Associate, Mr. James Leyte, held a series of meetings with both local and international partners to further advance climate action initiatives and determine new approaches for the partnership to further grow and develop, leading to a climate resilient future.

The productive set of meetings started off with CGIAR, a global research partnership whose primary goal is to sustainably transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. The top management met with Data Product Manager, Mr. Daharani Burra, and Investment Specialist, Mr. Peter Wamicze, at the Bayleaf Hotel, Intramuros, Manila with the goal of stirring impactful discussions in terms of new areas of partnership and developing new ideas on how CLIMBS and CGIAR would be able to work together in raising the banner on climate change. 

Subsequently, after the fruitful discussions with CGIAR, the top management also met with the Philippine Crop and Insurance Corporation (PCIC) Business Development Manager, Mr. Manuel Cortina, at the Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant in Intramuros, Manila, to look more into ways on how the public and private sectors are able to collaborate and develop their initiatives to significantly contribute to the agriculture sector.

And lastly, the top management capped off with a courtesy meeting with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the Agricultural Counselor for Foreign Agricultural Service, Mr. Michael Ward, Deputy Office Director from the Office of Economic Development and Governance, Mr. Eric Florimon-Reed, and Project Management Specialist, Mr. Emil De Quiros, at the US Embassy, Roxas Boulevard, Manila. The discussion centered around the purpose of promoting the growth of the cooperative sector, focusing on imploring innovative, parametric solutions for climate resilience.

 Aligning its vision to the U.N.’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, CLIMBS has weathered the storms by staying faithful to its commitment to SDG 13 and SDG 17 and actively pursuing Climate Action and Partnerships for the Goals initiatives by unifying both global and local sectors in a whole-of-society approach, underscoring the importance of the cooperative spirit amidst it all.