by Donna C. Dizon, Group SVP, CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative
CEO & Principal, Co-operative College of the Philippines
Through my work with cooperatives and social and solidarity economy initiatives, I have seen how mutual insurance can go beyond protection against loss and become a platform for resilience, inclusion, sustainability, and community empowerment.
With CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative, we continue to work closely with our member-cooperatives across the Philippines to transform shared risks into shared solutions. In a country highly exposed to typhoons, floods, storm surges, drought, and heat, we recognize that cooperatives are more than economic institutions—they are community anchors and social protection platforms.
As a mutual insurer owned by cooperatives, we aggregate the needs of our network and translate them into programs that respond to local realities. Through initiatives such as Weather Protect Insurance, We Protect Her, Plant A SEED and CoopSustain, RECO-OP, and the Cooperative College of the Philippines, we aim to connect financial protection, ecosystem restoration, renewable energy, education, and community participation into one integrated cooperative ecosystem.
One initiative that demonstrates this approach is Weather Protect Insurance (WPI), the Philippines’ first cooperative-led parametric insurance for climate-exposed farmers and fisherfolk. By using predefined triggers such as rainfall, wind speed, drought, and heat index, WPI enables faster payouts after extreme weather events, helping communities recover more quickly and reduce long-term economic disruption.
To date, WPI coverage has expanded to more than 232,000 farmer-members, reaching an estimated 1.16 million household members, with total payouts amounting to PHP 24 million. These results affirm our belief that cooperative-based climate risk protection can provide timely and practical support to vulnerable communities.
We also continue to advance gender-responsive protection through We Protect Her, a women-centered insurance solution developed with support from various development actors. Through this initiative, we address women’s distinct risks by combining life, disability, critical illness, maternity-related needs, income protection, and Weather Protect Insurance into one responsive protection platform.
Plant A SEED and CoopSustain: Building a Cooperative Sustainability Movement
Our sustainability work recognizes that protecting communities also means protecting the ecosystems that sustain them. Through Plant A SEED—Sustainability and Ecosystem-based Solutions for Environmental Defense—we transform insurance growth into proactive climate action by linking premium growth, cooperative participation, and ecosystem restoration.
Plant A SEED supports ecosystem-based adaptation by strengthening natural coastal defenses against storm surges, erosion, and sea-level rise while supporting biodiversity, livelihoods, and blue carbon storage. It complements Weather Protect Insurance by pairing financial recovery after climate shocks with long-term environmental resilience.
With a commitment to plant 5 million mangroves by 2030, we have already mobilized 104 cooperative partners, planted 216,835 mangroves, and covered 141 hectares of project sites during the initiative’s first year. All this by mobilizing cooperatives as local partners in site identification, planting, volunteer mobilization, and post-planting care.
Using reference-based estimates of approximately 12.3 kg of CO₂ sequestered per mangrove annually, the mangroves planted through Plant A SEED represent potential annual sequestration of around 2,667 metric tons of CO₂, subject to survival rate, species, site conditions, and long-term monitoring.
Today, Plant A SEED is being integrated into CoopSustain, our broader cooperative sustainability platform.
RECO-OP: A Cooperative Response to Renewable Energy Needs
Another important area of our work is renewable energy. Through Renewable Energy Co-operatives of the Philippines (RECO-OP) Federation, a CLIMBS-led organization, we respond to the growing energy needs of cooperatives facing rising electricity costs, power disruptions during extreme weather events, and dependence on centralized or diesel-based systems.
Our experience has shown the practical value of renewable energy solutions. PHCCI-Dumaguete, one of RECO-OP’s pioneering members, achieved estimated electricity savings of 30–40% through solarization efforts, while CLIMBS’ own 25 kWp solar photovoltaic system continues to support continuity of essential services during grid outages.
By aggregating cooperative demand, RECO-OP helps cooperatives access shared procurement, technical support, financing partnerships, monitoring, and maintenance services, making renewable energy solutions more accessible, affordable, and locally anchored for off-grid, island, underserved, and climate-vulnerable communities.
Launched by CLIMBS in 2025, through RECO-OP we continue to encourage cooperatives to work together in building a fair and cooperative-led energy transition rooted in democratic participation, local ownership, and shared benefit.
Co-operative College of the Philippines: Lifelong Learning and Cooperative Identity
Our work in mutual protection, climate resilience, gender inclusion, renewable energy, and sustainability is strengthened by our commitment to cooperative education. The Co-operative College of the Philippines (CCPH) continues to play a key role in advancing Cooperative Principle 5: Education, Training, and Information. Through CCPH, we help cooperatives build the knowledge, leadership, and institutional capacity needed to remain relevant, resilient, and firmly rooted in cooperative identity.
CCPH has extensive experience in cooperative capacity-building, curriculum development, and institutional strengthening across diverse cooperative sectors, working mainly with the cooperative federations like the National Federation of Cooperatives in the Philippines (NaFeCoop), a CLIMBS affiliate. Through structured learning programmes, standardized modules, and training-of-trainers approaches, we translate policy priorities into practical tools for cooperative leaders, officers, members, and next-generation leaders.
Co-Creation at the Local Level
What distinguishes CLIMBS’ approach is our ability to bring together mutual/cooperative insurance and cooperative networking. This experience demonstrates how a mutual insurer can contribute meaningfully to the wider social and solidarity economy by transforming cooperative networks into platforms for co-creation, shared protection, and sustainable development.
For us at CLIMBS, social protection, climate resilience, gender inclusion, renewable energy, sustainability, and lifelong learning are not separate initiatives. They are interconnected pathways toward one shared mission: building cooperative communities that are protected, empowered, resilient, and capable of shaping a more inclusive and sustainable future from the ground up.
As our President & CEO Noel D. Raboy affirms: “As a mutual insurer owned by cooperatives, CLIMBS has the responsibility not only to provide protection after loss, but to help cooperatives build resilience before risks become disasters. Through Weather Protect Insurance, gender-responsive protection, ecosystem restoration, renewable energy, and lifelong learning, we show how insurance can become a platform for solidarity, sustainability, and community-led development.”
