Specialist policies offer drought relief

Farmers who signed up for specialist parametric policies that would insure them against natural catastrophe are getting swift payouts which could help them recover from heatwaves and prolonged droughts that hit parts of the country. 

Temperature records tumbled during late July’s European heatwave, the second to hit Europe in a month, and climate specialists warn such bursts of heat may become more common as the planet warms up because of greenhouse gas emissions. 

“This year, all the French farmers who signed a drought contract got a payout,” Gabriel Gross, chief executive of Paris-based insurance and re-insurance company Meteo Protect.