Ofori-Atta welcomes Ghana’s selection to host CVF secretariat

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has described the establishment of an Independent Secretariat for Climate Vulnerable Forum and the V20 Group of Finance Ministers as a giant step towards achieving climate prosperity objectives.

Ghana has been selected to host the proposed independent global secretariat of the group Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), which has now been declared as a fully-fledged treaty organization.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum and the Vulnerable Twenty Group of Finance Ministers announced the nomination at their meeting on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 

Sixty-eight climate-vulnerable countries are driving the agenda calling for the overhaul of the global financial architecture.

Governments of CVF represent 1.74 billion people and $3.8 trillion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Ghana assumed the Presidency of CVF and Chair of the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance from 2022 to 2024.

According to the V20 Loss and Damage Report, Ghana lost US$15.20billion from 2000 to 2019 to climate change.

The World Bank Group’s new Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) for Ghana, incomes could reduce by up to 40 per cent for poor households by 2050, if urgent climate actions were not taken.

The CVF meeting was co-organized by the V20, represented by its Chair Ken Ofori-Atta, and sponsored by the Ghana Permanent Mission to the UN.

Other ministers and ranking officials of the CVF and V20 members, key partner countries and philanthropies also joined the meeting at the UN headquarters.

They adopted the CVF Leaders’ Declaration, which called for the Establishment of a fully independent secretariat for the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and the Vulnerable Twenty Group of Finance Ministers (V20) among others.

Ofori-Atta who is the Chair of the V20 Finance Ministers said the establishment of the Independent Secretariat will ensure that the coalition has a legal form to facilitate the mobilisation of more resources to support member states in the development and implementation of their climate prosperity goals.

He added that, it would also ensure the provision of policy guidance, facilitation of access to financial resources for adaptation and loss and damage, build the capacity of member states, and empower them to effectively navigate challenges posed by climate change.

According to him, the combined voice of the 68 Member States is not just impressive in number but powerful in intent to drive and realize deeper global transformation.

Mr. Ofori-Atta was optimistic that the membership of the Forum would increase from 68 to 100 countries by the end of COP 28, to represent about 30% of the world’s population.

The Minister  described the setting up of the Secretariat as the coming of age of a formidable entity designed to sustain and amplify the efforts of nations, to protect them from climate impacts, expand adaptive capacity and enable them to rise beyond their climate vulnerabilities’’.

Addressing the forum, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who is the Chair of the CVF said a new deal on carbon financing is essential to achieve the Paris Agreement in the near term and underscored the need to strengthen the 2030 climate target for major polluting economies and encourage ambitious positive climate action in low emitting developing economies.

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed stressed the need to acknowledge the leadership and ingenuity of the Climate Vulnerable nations which often bear the disproportionate burden of the climate crisis.

She regretted that, developing economies and vulnerable countries are severely hampered by debilitating debt burden, limited fiscal space, and high borrowing cost.

She highlighted that the solution to the difficulties was the formation of a robust global financial architecture.

The Prime Minister for Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley said if ever there was a need for a group that was focused on vulnerability in a strategic way; this was the time and gave assurance of her country’s full commitment to working with all others in a way that shaped the organisation.

She emphasised the need to adopt country ownership of the transition strategies to facilitate the transition to low carbon economies, enable them realise Nationally Determined Contributions and ultimately maintain the 1.5 degree temperature threshold.

The Prime Minister also officially indicated Barbados’ willingness to Chair the Forum after Ghana’s tenure ends in May 2024.