MAJURO, 17 September 2024 – The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) successfully hosted the first workshop of the G7- and V20-led Global Shield against Climate Risks, an initiative aimed at addressing severe climate hazards threatening the nation’s vulnerable communities through pre–arranged financing solutions. Under the strong leadership of the Ministry of Finance, this workshop brought together key stakeholders to review the current landscape of climate and disaster risk financing and insurance and identify most pressing financial protection gaps.
RMI is facing increasingly severe climate risks that are endangering the country’s economy and livelihoods of its people. Rising sea levels, frequent and intense storms, and prolonged droughts are exacerbating the challenges faced by the island nation, highlighting the urgent need for more effective and coordinated efforts to address new and emerging climate risks.
During the two-day workshop, representatives from key Government ministries, international organisations, climate experts, and community leaders engaged in productive discussions, covering existing efforts and gaps in climate risk finance. The event provided a platform to collaborate closely and identify the most urgent needs. Key outcomes of the in-country workshop include the need to strengthen budgetary support for disaster risk finance, enhance capacity building and trainings on climate and disaster risk finance, development of a disaster risk financing policy and identifying innovative financing mechanisms such as parametric insurance and nature-based solutions.
The first Global Shield consultations in RMI underscored the critical importance of a demand-driven and inclusive approach in responding to the challenges posed by climate change. The Global Shield stands committed to continuing these efforts and working closely with the Government of RMI to secure a sustainable future for the most at-risk populations.
Ms Ayako Yamaguchi- Eliou, Secretary for Finance in her remarks stated that “RMI has supported the V20 and G7 led Global Shield against Climate Risks in the hope that it will help communities in RMI to recover faster from climate disasters through pre-arranged solutions and financing. It is therefore critically important that the ambition of Global Shield recognize country-specific vulnerabilities and take them fully into account when making decisions on the scale of financing”.
Dr Andreas Pfaffernoschke, Ambassador of Germany to RMI, highlighted in his video statement: “Today’s workshop marks a significant step forward in addressing climate risks in the Republic of Marshall Islands. Over the years we have seen a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in many countries, causing considerable damage. In this context, there is an urgent need to ensure the protection of vulnerable people and countries by providing more and better pre-arranged finance for addressing climate-related loss and damage.”
Mr. Nilesh Prakash, Co-Director of the Global Shield Secretariat underscored that according to the Independent High-Level Expert Group on climate finance, climate-vulnerable developing countries need somewhere between 200 and 400 billion annually to respond to climate-induced loss and damage. He added that “while this dwarfs the offering of the Global Shield initiative, the important point to remember is that Global Shield is not the whole solution but is essentially a part of the climate and disaster risk finance & insurance solution. We need a mosaic of solutions to respond to climate and disaster risks bearing in mind the absorptive capacities and ground realities of Global Shield beneficiary countries.”
© Chewy Lin
Launched at COP27 by the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Finance Ministers and the Group of Seven (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.
PRESS CONTACTS
Global Shield Secretariat: secretariat@globalshield.org