ROLE OVERVIEW
IHRB is seeking a Research & Engagement Lead to develop a flagship report on adaptation finance in Africa, with a particular focus on the role of financial institutions, insurers, and risk-sharing mechanisms in enabling people-centred climate adaptation.
This project builds on our Spectrum of Just Transitions Finance report, which assesses the alignment and potential of existing financial mechanisms to advance just transitions outcomes. This project extends that analysis into the adaptation space – where financing gaps are largest, and where the alignment between capital, risk, and social outcomes remains weakest.
The work will be grounded in real-world practitioner engagement from day one, building relationships with:
- Financial institutions (banks, investors, DFIs)
- Insurers and reinsurers
- Public finance actors
- African policymakers
- Community leaders and civil society experts
The goal is not only to map what financial mechanisms already exist or are being experimented with – but to interrogate how decisions are actually made, where incentives align/misalign, and what would enable finance and insurance systems to better support community-led adaptation solutions.
ROLE OBJECTIVES
To lead the development of a high-impact, practitioner-oriented report that:
- Maps the spectrum of adaptation finance and risk-sharing mechanisms in Africa
- Analyses how financial and insurance actors assess, price, and manage climate risk and investment opportunities
- Identifies emerging models that align capital deployment with:
- Resilience outcomes
- Social inclusion
- Community agency
- Produces actionable insights to inform decision-making across finance and insurance ecosystems
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Research Design & Practitioner Engagement
Design and lead an action research process grounded in early and ongoing engagement with:
Banks, investors, and DFIs
Insurance and reinsurance actors
Public finance institutions
Community leaders innovating around resilience-building
Using engagement not just for validation, but to:
Understand decision logics, constraints, and incentives
Test emerging hypotheses in real time
Surface practical barriers and opportunities for change
2. Analytical Framework
Develop a framework mapping the spectrum of adaptation finance, including:
Public, private, and blended finance instruments
Insurance and risk transfer mechanisms (e.g. sovereign risk pools, parametric insurance, guarantees)
Analyse how these interact to:
Allocate and price climate risk and social risk
Influence investment flows
Shape resilience outcomes on the ground
3. Evidence & Case Development
Identify and analyse real-world cases across African contexts, including:
Financial instruments supporting adaptation
Insurance products and risk-sharing structures
Hybrid or blended models linking finance and insurance
Successful examples of community-led adaptation and resilience-building models and their financing structures
Conduct structured interviews across:
Financial institutions
Insurers, reinsurers, and brokers
Climate-exposed companies investing in adaptation
Governments and regulators
Community leaders and wider civil society actors
Develop deep-dive case studies demonstrating:
What works
Where systems fail
What conditions enable scale and inclusion
Testimonials and first-hand narrative snapshots illustrating the benefits of community leadership and knowledge in designing durable solutions
4. Report Development & Insight Translation
Lead drafting of a flagship report targeted at:
Financial institutions, insurance actors, policymakers and donors, and;
their community counterparts on the frontlines
Translate complex findings into:
Clear frameworks and typologies
Decision-useful insights
Inspiring narrative illustrations
Practical entry points for institutional change
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
A widely used, practitioner-relevant report demonstrating the state of play as well as art-of-the-possible in shaping finance and insurance mechanisms in partnership with those most affected by climate extremes and adaptation interventions – in particular:
Clear articulation of how climate and social risk is currently priced – and how it should be restructured
Identification of scalable models linking finance, insurance, and resilience outcomes
Tangible influence on:
Financial institution strategies
Insurance product design
Policy and donor approaches
Strengthened integration of adaptation and resilience building across IHRB’s programmes