Insurance Innovation for Community Heat Resilience

Traditional relief programs following extreme weather, including extreme heat, are slow and reactive. What is needed is an approach that can quickly deploy assistance when temperatures spike. That is where parametric insurance—a financial tool that automatically releases funds when a specific weather threshold is exceeded—might be part of the solution. This report explores the feasibility of a parametric model of insurance for extreme heat using North Carolina as a case study.

This publication is part of Cooling Communities, a project in which researchers work alongside faith-based organizations—especially in rural areas—to codesign and implement comprehensive strategies to reduce heat risk.