Podcast
Insurance for Everyday Climate Resilience with Charlie and Keith
2026-11-12 · By Charlie Langdale, Chief Executive, Humanity Insured, and Keith Malambo, Zambian Livestock Farmer
Charlie Langdale of Humanity Insured and Zambian livestock farmer Keith Malambo explore how inclusive insurance can strengthen climate resilience and protect livelihoods. Drawing on lived experience and insurance expertise, they show how community knowledge, timely payouts, parametric insurance and cross-sector collaboration can help vulnerable households recover from shocks and plan for the future.
How can inclusive insurance protect livelihoods, strengthen climate resilience and help communities plan for the future?
As part of our work looking at how we can tackle the social impacts of climate change – meet social impact pioneers Charlie Langdale, Chief Executive of Humanity Insured, and Zambian livestock farmer Keith Malambo. Together they explore what effective financial protection looks like, and why it must start with the people facing the risks.
Drawing on 30 years in the insurance industry, Charlie explains his determination to challenge the idea that insurance is only for wealthy people. Through Humanity Insured, he is bringing insurers, businesses and local partners together to make protection accessible to communities exposed to climate shocks and livelihood losses.
Keith brings first-hand experience and practical insight. After a hyena killed one of his cows, he reported the incident through WILD Cover and received support in just two weeks. He used the money to buy a calf, helping him rebuild the herd his family depends on. No having to endlessly prove the state of affairs…just a simple, straightforward payout.
As this is no ordinary insurance. Charlie has been working on insurance that uses the data, thresholds to determine payouts and as he says, insurance is really just: ‘maths and science backed by guarantee.’ And with that in mind, Charlie can create the conditions for really useful insurance to support people here and when they need it.
Together Keith and Charlie fall upon three lessons for business, philanthropy and development:
• Start with community knowledge. Farmers like Keith understand their risks and can identify what makes protection useful, accessible and trustworthy.
• Make finance available when it matters. Alongside compensation for wildlife-related losses, the discussion examines how parametric insurance can release funds when agreed thresholds are met, helping communities act before climate shocks deepen into humanitarian crises.
• Build lasting protection. Keith calls for sustained support that reaches more farmers. Charlie explains why collaboration across insurance, philanthropy and government is essential to making programmes sustainable and expanding their reach.
Listen in to deepen your knowledge of inclusive insurance, community-led solutions and the power of combining industry expertise with lived experience.
Links:
Humanity Insured: https://humanityinsured.org/
WILD cover: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/wildlife-insurance-protecting-humans-from-animal-attacks/ and https://humanityinsured.org/news/the-wildlife-insurance-protecting-humans-from-animal-attacks/
If you liked this, take a listen to:
MAKING A GOOD PARTNERSHIP GREAT WITH MAIKE AND JONNY: https://businessfightspoverty.org/cross-sector-partnerships-economic-opportunity/