Counter Crisis

In January 2022, an underwater volcano erupted off Tonga with enough force to be heard in Alaska. It triggered a tsunami, severed the undersea cable that connected the country to the world, and caught the national disaster team's own boat at sea for five days.
Tonga had insurance — but the small print didn't cover volcanic eruptions. Aid arrived, but reaching the most remote islands took weeks.
How do you insure against a once-in-a-thousand-years disaster — and what happens when the policy doesn't pay? In this episode of Counter Crisis, Jeevan Vasagar is joined by Moana Kioa, Henry Cocker and Metui Taukeiaho.
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Counter Crisis is brought to you by the Centre for Disaster Protection, which helps countries find better ways to manage disaster risk – protecting lives, livelihoods, and economies before crisis strikes. 
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Heat doesn't behave like other disasters. It's slow, continuous, and chronically under-recorded. In parts of India, heat now lasts for up to nine months of the year.
For street vendors, construction workers and informal-sector women, heat means impossible choices between earning and staying safe. One response has been a parametric heat insurance policy, now covering a quarter of a million women workers, that pays out automatically when temperatures cross a threshold for two days in a row. The harder questions are how to scale it — and who can afford the premium.
What happens when an entire season is being reshaped, and the people most exposed are the least able to adapt? In this episode of Counter Crisis, Jeevan Vasagar is joined by Jaya Dhindaw, Rita Missal, Rajvi Joshipura, Sahil Hebbar and Cristina Stefan.
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Counter Crisis is brought to you by the Centre for Disaster Protection, which helps countries find better ways to manage disaster risk – protecting lives, livelihoods, and economies before crisis strikes. 
Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

In October 2025, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as the strongest storm ever to hit the island. Forty-five people were killed, thousands were left homeless, and the town of Black River was almost completely destroyed.
But Jamaica had spent years preparing. After a catastrophe bond failed to trigger during Hurricane Beryl the year before, critics asked whether Jamaica had bought the wrong insurance. This time, the bond paid out $150 million, and the country mobilised over $660 million in total.
What does it take to build that kind of protection — and is it enough as storms get stronger? In this episode of Counter Crisis, Jeevan Vasagar is joined by Keenan Falconer, Mikol Mortley and Ron Jackson.
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Counter Crisis is brought to you by the Centre for Disaster Protection, which helps countries find better ways to manage disaster risk – protecting lives, livelihoods, and economies before crisis strikes. 
Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

The Gambia is one of the smallest countries in Africa, and one of the most exposed to climate change. Its capital, Banjul, sits on an island less than a metre above sea level. By the end of the century, the city could be lost altogether.
Amid regular floods and severe droughts, poverty is rising and tens of thousands of young people are leaving the country for opportunities elsewhere.
How does a country on the climate frontline build a future its young people want? In this episode of Counter Crisis, Jeevan Vasagar is joined by Filly Suso, Isatou Camara, Mustapha Sonko, Samboujang Dampha and Adam McVie.
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Counter Crisis is brought to you by the Centre for Disaster Protection, which helps countries find better ways to manage disaster risk – protecting lives, livelihoods, and economies before crisis strikes. 
Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

The people closest to a disaster are often the furthest away from where decisions about the money to respond are made. The third season of Counter Crisis travels that distance and meets people who are working to close it. 
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Counter Crisis is brought to you by the Centre for Disaster Protection, which helps countries find better ways to manage disaster risk – protecting lives, livelihoods, and economies before crisis strikes. 
Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.