BAKU, 20 November 2024 – The Global Shield against Climate Risks officially launched the Global Shield Ambition today at COP29, during a dedicated high-level launch event “Global Shield Ambition: Enhancing Financial Protection for Climate-Vulnerable Developing Countries to Avert, Minimize and Address Loss and Damage”, hosted by the Global Shield Secretariat and supported by the Global Shield Financing Facility (GSFF), the Global Shield Solutions Platform (GSSP), and the V20‘s Loss and Damage Funding Program. The Ambition sets the strategic direction of the Global Shield in its mission of increasing and improving access to pre-arranged finance. This, in turn, supports countries in effectively responding to climate-related risks and loss and damage, and better financially protecting vulnerable people and communities.
In pursuit of its vision and mission, the Global Shield is guided by five key principles: inclusivity, country-ownership, complementarity, transparency and timeliness. This will drive action on the four high-level goals, which are: informed risk prioritization, inclusive governance, streamlined access to finance, and stimulating innovation.
Speaking on behalf of the Global Shield’s V20 Co-Chair, Hon. Ryan R. Straughn, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment in the Government of Barbados at the high-level launch, H.E. Ms. H. Elizabeth Thompson, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of Barbados with responsibility for matters related to Climate Change, Small Island States SIDS & Law of the Sea, and Sherpa to the Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, who currently serves as Chair of the CVF-V20, officially unveiled the Global Shield Ambition. As the 2023 Global Stocktake recognized, climate ambition and fiscal space are part of one intricate ecosystem. Climate vulnerable nations need grants and low-cost financing to be complemented with risk management and liquidity support to unlock fiscal constraints and manage climate shocks.
“With implementation set to target at least 17 countries, we gather here today to unveil the Ambition of the Global Shield and what its contributions are to close the financial protection sinkhole in climate-vulnerable countries. At the heart of the Global Shield lies the in-country process that recognizes each country’s uniqueness, its risk profiles and suite of pre-arranged financial solutions that work. To deliver these financial solutions, we not only need enabling policy frameworks, but finance to propel the implementation of real solutions,” she said.
Representing the Global Shield’s G7 Co-Chair Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, was Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, who added: “The Global Shield’s In-Country Processes ensure country leadership and ownership, and focus on systemic change to disaster risk financing, in deploying pre-arranged financing to minimize and address loss and damage at speed and scale. Thus, the Global Shield, as an important funding arrangement, can offer added value and is committed to supporting the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD).”
Global Shield Co-Director Nilesh Prakash explained how the Secretariat plans to ramp up support for climate-vulnerable countries, saying: “The new Global Shield Ambition will inform enhanced financial protection mechanisms for the most vulnerable people and communities in Global Shield countries. Through our inclusive, country-led, bottom-up approach, we have seen first-hand in Ghana the fruits of our labor – the first drought insurance policy purchased from the African Risk Capacity as part of its Request for Support. This is only the beginning, as several country processes are underway and progressing well, with Pakistan officially submitting their Request for Support to the Global Shield earlier today here in Baku. Today’s launch of the Ambition marks a new era for the Global Shield initiative in systematically closing the financial protection gap.”
Dr. Astrid Zwick, fellow Global Shield Co-Director concluded with a spirited call to action: “The Ambition will be our guiding star. With countries recognizing the importance of pre-arranging finance to deal with ever-increasing climate and disaster risks, it is crucial that donors, financing institutions and all other relevant stakeholders join the Global Shield’s mission and pledge ramped-up support to expand its reach and impact, ensuring climate-vulnerable countries are financially resilient and able to recover more quickly from climate-related disasters.”
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About the Global Shield against Climate Risks:
Launched at COP27 by the V20 Group of Finance Ministers and the G7, the Global Shield against Climate Risks aims to increase protection for climate-vulnerable economies and communities by providing and facilitating substantially more and better pre-arranged and trigger-based finance against disasters and climate risks. Greater financial protection and faster and more reliable disaster preparedness and response will contribute to effectively responding to losses and damages from climate change.
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