How do you explain a complex financial mechanism designed to protect coral reefs to someone who knows nothing about parametric insurance?
As part of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund’s reef risk insurance programme, Rewire created a two-minute animated video. The aim was to make the mechanism accessible to a much wider audience.
The video needed to work beyond technical presentations and policy documents. It had to support workshops and stakeholder engagement. It also needed to work as content for social media and other digital channels.
Turning a complex mechanism into a simple story
Reef insurance brings together climate science, conservation, finance and disaster risk management. It also involves several unfamiliar concepts.
These include predefined payout triggers, hurricane intensity and proximity, rapid financing, and the role of local reef responders.
Rather than starting with the insurance mechanism itself, we started with something everyone could understand: the role coral reefs play in protecting Caribbean communities.
The story begins with the ancient reefs beneath the Caribbean Sea. It then moves to the growing threat from hurricanes. Finally, it shows the narrow window available to restore damaged coral. The animation then introduces reef insurance as the solution. Funding can reach local responders quickly, when it matters most.
The tone was accessible and engaging. We turned a technically complex subject into a simple visual story about reefs, hurricanes, communities and the value of acting quickly.
From illustrations to animation
We developed the visual concept, illustrations and animation for the film. We created a visual language that could explain the mechanism without relying on technical diagrams or dense text, using animation to show how a hurricane triggers funding and how local teams can then respond.
The final two-minute video was produced in English and Spanish, giving CBF a flexible communications tool for use across different audiences and channels.
The animation helps bring the reef insurance mechanism into workshops, stakeholder conversations and digital communications, giving people a quick and engaging way to understand how the model works and why rapid financing matters.
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