The MAR Insurance Programme enters its fifth year, advancing climate resilience across the Mesoamerican Reef
Photo: Elisa Areano
September 2025 — The Mesoamerican Reef Fund (MAR Fund) and Willis, a WTW business (NASDAQ: WTW), are pleased to announce the appointment of AXA Climate as the insurance solutions designer for the fifth annual placement of the MAR Insurance Programme. This year’s renewal has been made possible with financial support from the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF), a key partner of the program since its first placement in 2021.
The MAR Region provides over US$4.5 billion in environmental services annually[1]. As a vital natural infrastructure, it plays a key role in protecting more than 5 million people living within 50 km of the coast throughout the MAR region. The MAR Insurance Programme, a cornerstone of MAR Fund’s Reef Rescue Initiative, is a regional financial mechanism that utilises parametric insurance to quickly deploy funds for community-led response efforts aimed at repairing reef damage caused by hurricanes. Covering 11 protected reef sites, the insurance supports response actions that strengthen the resilience of coral reef ecosystems and the coastal communities that depend on them, along the 1,000 km stretch of the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) across Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras[2].
“The MAR Insurance Programme is an effective mechanism that encompasses not only the insurance product itself, but also the response capacities. Through this programme, MAR Fund, its partners, and the governments of the region have built a network of reef guardians, ready to respond immediately after a hurricane impacts the coral reefs.”
—María José González, executive director of MAR Fund.
The programme demonstrated its value when Hurricane Lisa, a Category 1 storm, triggered a payout for the Turneffe Atoll National Marine Reserve in Belize in November 2022. This marked the first payout of the MAR Insurance Programme. Willis, serving as the calculation agent, confirmed that wind speeds reached 70 knots, activating the payout, which MAR Fund received within two weeks. Funds were delivered to MAR Fund´s Emergency Fund, another pillar of the Reef Rescue Initiative, and were quickly distributed to Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association (TASA), which coordinated the response. Within 15 days of the hurricane, brigades assessed the reef damage and stabilised nearly 200 coral fragments.
“Willis is proud to be a part of the team that continues to deliver this ground-breaking initiative to the MAR region. The MAR Insurance Programme demonstrates how novel approaches to risk financing can play a critical role in ecosystem resilience, conservation financing and strengthening the economic opportunities of local communities in the face of the increasing impacts of climate change.”
—Juanita Blanco, Director, Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions at Willis.
Now entering its fifth year of operation, the portfolio has expanded from 4 sites in 2021 to 11 reef sites across the MAR region since 2023. This has been possible thanks to the generous premium support from ISF. During its implementation, the programme has been supported by partners, such as the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) and the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA/UNDP). The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has joined this effort, strengthening the coverage and capacities at two sites in southern Belize. Willis’ Alternative Risk Transfer team has placed the product competitively in markets, and for this year, AXA Climate is the insurance provider.
“At AXA Climate, we are proud to put our expertise in parametric insurance at the service of the MAR Insurance Programme. The mechanism has already demonstrated its usefulness by providing rapid financing for reef restoration after hurricane impacts. By combining science, insurance, and local action, it helps protect vital ecosystems and strengthen the resilience of the millions of people who depend on the Mesoamerican Reef.”
—Antoine Denoix, CEO of AXA Climate.
In the face of climate change, this innovative solution unlocks disaster response financing for the coral reefs of the MAR by using parametric insurance to provide timely and reliable funding for immediate response actions following a hurricane. This regional approach also strengthens collaboration across the region, resulting in a network of partners committed to exploRemove featured imagering the replication and scaling of the model to other sites, risks, and assets.
“The MAR Insurance Programme is paving the way for nature-based solutions against climate risks. The ISF is proud to continue supporting this innovative insurance programme protecting a unique natural treasure and providing livelihoods for vulnerable people in the MAR region.”
—Dr. Annette Detken, head of the InsuResilience Solutions Fund.
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About MAR Fund MAR Fund is a regional environmental fund that implements the Reef Rescue Initiative (RRI), whose main objective is to support the long-term ecological and economic viability of the Mesoamerican Reef. This is achieved through capacity building, strategic alliances, risk management instruments, and innovative financial mechanisms. Through the RRI, MAR Fund collaborates with local conservation organisations and government agencies at each insured reef site to strengthen their capacity to implement reef response plans in the aftermath of hurricanes. To enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of reef response efforts in the region, MAR Fund manages two innovative risk financing mechanisms: the Emergency Fund and the MAR Insurance Programme. In the event of a payout, insurance funds will be disbursed within days to the MAR Fund’s existing Emergency Fund. These funds will then be immediately transferred to predefined organisations, which will mobilise response brigades to carry out actions aimed at mitigating hurricane impacts on coral reefs. |
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About InsuResilience Solutions Fund The mission of the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF) is to support innovative solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. Managed by Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and funded by KfW Development Bank on behalf of the German government, the ISF’s objective is to close the protection gap by focusing on solutions for vulnerable populations who are over-proportionately exposed to climate risks. Therefore, ISF fosters the development of needs-based and financially sustainable climate risk insurance products in developing and emerging countries. ISF has supported the MAR insurance programme since its inception in 2021, and continues to provide premium financing support until 2027. |
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About WTW At WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), we provide data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk and capital. Leveraging the global view and local expertise of our colleagues serving 140 countries and markets, we help organisations sharpen their strategy, enhance organisational resilience, motivate their workforce and maximise performance. Working shoulder to shoulder with our clients, we uncover opportunities for sustainable success—and provide perspective that moves you. |
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About AXA Climate AXA Climate, a subsidiary of the AXA group dedicated to climate change adaptation and transition, supports sectors such as agribusiness, industry, finance, and the public sector by offering parametric insurance products, consulting services, over 40 hours of online training, and a suite of digital tools for climate projections. By leveraging science and data, AXA Climate helps companies and public players to tackle key environmental challenges and enables them to implement concrete adaptation and mitigation strategies tailored to their local contexts and specific needs. |
[1] Economic Valuation of the Ecosystem Services of the Mesoamerican Reef, and the Allocation and Distribution of these Values, which was prepared by Metroeconomica, World Resources Institute-Mexico, and the Ocean Foundation, for the Inter-American Development Bank. The full report was published in 2021 and can be accessed at: https://publications.iadb.org/en/economic-valuation-ecosystem-services-mesoamericanreef-and-allocation-and-distribution-these
[2] The execution of this Programme shall not have any effect with respect to, or in connection with, any sovereignty claims over any territory (land, insular and maritime) claimed by the Republic of Guatemala and/or Belize; nor shall it have any effect over the rights and/or claims of either country over such territory.
Photo: Lorenzo Álvarez