Mexico just bought itself time: a $500 million emergency credit line that opens the moment disaster strikes

When a hurricane or earthquake hits, the cruelest delay is money — help cannot move until budgets are raided. Mexico has arranged to skip that step. The World Bank has approved $500 million in financing through a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option — an emergency credit line the government can draw on almost immediately when it declares a disaster or public-health emergency, without urgently reallocating its budget. It is the first time Mexico has used this instrument; it sits alongside the country's catastrophe bonds and parametric insurance, and it also backs policies that reduce damage before disasters occur, from safer infrastructure and housing to stronger health systems. The arrangement runs for three years, with the option to extend.

SDG 13 · Climate action — Mechanism: funding & finance