On May 25, 2017, the Caribbean Development Bank and CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) launched the Integrated Sovereign Risk Management in the Caribbean project. This project seeks to enable all Caribbean countries to take a more proactive approach towards country risk management, moving beyond planning for natural disaster risks such as climate change and events like hurricanes and earthquakes and recognizing the intrinsic linkages between disaster risk and other types such as economic, technological and financial risks and the impacts of these on socioeconomic development.
Background - Introducing Sovereign Risk Management
With significant shifts in the frequency,impact and very nature of risks in the 21st century, governments are faced with a need to adjust their sovereign risk management strategies.The underlying changes which have taken place in many societies over the last 30 years have tremendously increased vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities have not only increased due to socioeconomic factors, but also due to the technological and economic interconnectedness of communities across regions and globally.This has led to an increase in uncertainty regarding the beginning and end points of sovereign risks, as seemingly far away events could cascade into transnational shocks. Privatisation in key industries also represents a growing economic trend over the last 20 years, which has created uncertainties regarding ownership and accountability for prevention and mitigation of associated risks.