Ghana Finance Minister Declares the V20 Ministerial X Communique at IMF-World Bank Meetings

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministers and Senior Representatives of the Vulnerable Twenty or V20 Group of Ministers of Finance, which come from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific, had all gather to met in Washington D.C. on Sunday, April 16, 2023, during the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, according to a media release received by Tempo on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

The meetings were aimed at assessing progress towards a fit–for–climate global financial architecture which is capable of delivering development–positive climate action for the most vulnerable and strategies to scale up and speed up financing, according to the V20 group.

The V20 group also stated that they acknowledged the main hurdle faced by vulnerable countries, which is access to timely and concessional financing, in order to realize the group's ambitions. The group also stated that they lack the resources of their wealthy and major economic counterparts.

The V20 group explained that constant pressure on fiscal space from climate-fueled risks impacted their development prospects in multiple ways. Furthermore, the negative effects of climate change are further worsening the already high cost of capital and levels of debt distress facing developing countries.

V20 chairperson and Ghana finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, thus declared the V20 Ministerial X communique adopted after hearing no objections in the meetings. In the communique, the V20 group outlined a number of demands as follow:

1. Calling for an international coalition behind a fit-for-climate global financial system as outlined in the Accra–Marrakech Agenda,

2. Calling for an official fund recognition by the World Bank and IMF,

3. Urging climate finance, including two times of adaptation finance by multilateral financing institutions within the next 24 months and three times of concessional International Development Association (IDA) financing for eligible countries,

4. Calling for Climate Prosperity Plans by enabling economic cooperation underpinned by shared prosperity and promoting debt sustainability in climate-resilient growth with G7 and G20,

5. Offsetting the cost of capital by significant de-risking, credit enhancement, and other efforts,

6. Closing the 98% V20 financial protection gap through the G7-V20 Global Shield against Climate Risks through prearranged and trigger-based funds and financing,

7. Co-creating win-win carbon financing exchanges that can help meet global goals, deliver fair-share action, and finance ambitious climate action,

8. Urging COP28 to deliver the mandate for the rapid evolution of all multilateral institutions including the Global Environment Facility to fully integrate loss and damage as an instrument. For the financial architecture to include loss and damage instruments, working with V20 L&D Funding Program, and finance the UNFCCC L&D Fund, and

9. Establishing an independent secretariat for Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and V20 which will be fully accountable to the presidency, Troika, and the national membership within six months.

TEMPO.CO

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