WASHINGTON, D.C., 29 April 2025 – The Global Shield against Climate Risks addressed the first High-Level Dialogue on “Strengthening Response(s) to Loss and Damage through Complementarity, Coherence and Coordination”, which was hosted by the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) under the leadership of its board and in coordination with the United Nations Secretary-General. The event took place last week on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings 2025 in Washington, D.C.
The event aimed at enhancing the complementarity and coordination between funding arrangements, facilitating knowledge exchange, and driving tangible commitments toward strengthening responses to economic and non-economic loss and damage arising from sudden and slow-onset events in the most vulnerable nations. The dialogue brought together a vast array of stakeholders to explore innovative solutions for scaling up climate finance and fostering strategic partnerships, serving as a key platform to announce new collaborative initiatives, highlight best practices, and reinforce global collaboration in responding to climate impacts.
Representing the Global Shield at the High-Level Dialogue was the initiative’s Co-Director, Mr. Nilesh Prakash who highlighted that as a funding arrangement in the loss and damage financing architecture with a proven bottom-up and country-led model, the Global Shield is well positioned to advance the mandate of the FRLD on several levels. The Request for Support generated through the Global Shield’s robust In-Country Processes (ICPs) provides further investment impetus, and collaboration between the Global Shield and the FRLD can pave the path for future project co-financing arrangements and private sector involvement, especially in the context of the recently approved Barbados Implementation Modalities. The FRLD could, for example, deploy grants through the Global Shield and its partners to vulnerable countries, thereby boosting investment in loss and damage projects.
“By aligning country engagement, co-financing, and delivery mechanisms, we can avoid duplication and deliver support faster, and more meaningfully. We have a country-driven pipeline ready for use now; and we develop and nurture financial solutions with our financing vehicles and our partners that can be scaled to meet rising risks,” said Mr. Prakash.
In concluding his statement, he made an impassioned collective call to action to the room: “finance must serve people first, not institutions. When protection is delayed, it is not just finance that fails – it is human lives put at greater risk. Let us therefore act not just as funders, but as partners — to protect the lives, livelihoods, and cultures already at risk from climate-induced loss and damage.”
The dialogue served as a key platform to reinforce global collaboration in responding to climate impacts. One outcome of this dialogue will be a report containing recommendations, including coordination and coherence to inform and operationalise the FRLD’s implementation modalities.
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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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