Women who work in India’s informal sector now have access to a first of its kind ‘heat income micro-insurance” that will help them recover wages lost due to climate-driven heat. It is yet another demonstration of the innovation driven by the 50-year-old Self-Employed Women’s Assocation (SEWA). Self-employed women in India account for 93% of India’s labour force.

The Extreme Heat Income Insurance, activated when specific extreme heat conditions happen, was developed by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Residence Center (Arsht-Rock), Blue Marble, and SEWA. Arsht-Rock also has endowed ‘chief heat officers’ in cities around the world.

It’s really different from how insurance usually works. The women pay a $3 enrollment fee, equivalent to about a day’s wages, and if local temperatures average above 90 degrees for three straight days, they will receive a digital cash transfer worth a few days’ wages that lets them to stay home from work.