According to Monday’s announcement at the COP27 summit, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ghana will be the first to receive funding from a G7 initiative that helps countries affected by climate change.
G7 president Germany coordinates the “Global Shield” initiative. It aims to quickly provide disaster relief funding and insurance for countries that are most vulnerable to climate change after floods or droughts.
G7 president Germany coordinates the Global Shield. It aims to quickly provide disaster funding and insurance for countries that are most vulnerable to climate change. It was developed in cooperation with the V20 group of 58 climate-vulnerable economies.
Germany released a statement naming the first recipients of Global Shield packages, also known as “Pathfinder Countries”, which included Bangladesh, Costa Rica and Fiji, Ghana.
Germany announced that the packages would be created in the next months with 170 million euros of funding from Germany and 40 millions euros from other donors including Denmark and Ireland.
Campaigners and countries were cautious about the possibility of it compromising efforts to reach a deal on financial aid for “loss and damages” – UN terminology for irreparable harm caused by global warming.
Svenja Schulze, German minister of development, stated that the Global Shield was designed to supplement, not replace, progress in reducing loss and damage.
What is Global Shield Funding?
The Global Shield (GS) is coordinated by the G7 President Germany. It aims to quickly provide disaster funding and insurance for countries that are most vulnerable to climate change. The Global Shield(GS) is being developed with the ‘V20’ group of 58 climate-vulnerable economies. Germany has provided $175.17million in funding, while other countries like Ireland and Denmark have contributed just over $41 million.
Objective of The Fund:
- The General Services will fill the urgent protection gaps within countries by funding, designing and facilitating interventions.
- The GS aims at providing pre-arranged insurance as well as disaster funding for events such a flood, drought, or hurricanes.
- The Global Shield seeks to supplement, not replace the progress made on “loss and damages”.
Who are the Beneficiaries?
Bangladesh and Fiji, Fiji, Ghana Fiji, Pakistan, Fiji, Ghana, Pakistan and the Philippines are some of the first recipients of Global Shield packages. These packages will be created over the next few months.
What has been said:
“It’s not a tactic to avoid formal negotiations on loss and damage funding arrangements. Global Shield doesn’t provide the only solution to loss and damage. We need a wide range of solutions,” stated Schulze. However, some countries that are vulnerable are still not convinced because there is not much clarity about the “insurance” elements of the deal.
“Using insurance is a way in which the victim pays, but in installments at the beginning,” Avinash Persaud, a special envoy on climate financing to the Prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley stated. He also suggested that loss and damage finance should not be grant-based.
