By Ebrima S. Jallow
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Hon. Seedy K.M. Keita recently returned from the just concluded High-Level Consultative Group (HLCG) of the G20+ and V20-led InsuResilience Global Partnership (IGP) that took place in Washington DC, United States.
As co-chairs of the meeting, on the margins of the World Bank/ IMF Annual meetings, Hon. Keita; and Dr. Bärbel Kofler, the Parliamentary State Secretary to Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development endorsed the concept of the Global Shield against Climate Risks and agreed to take on the role of HLCG for the Global Shield.
At the beginning of 2022, the HLCG made five recommendations on how existing Cimate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) support could be enhanced to better fit the needs of the most vulnerable. The HLCG emphasised the need for increasing the share of pre-arranged finance, improving coordination of solutions in countries, informing and strengthening local capacities, enabling risk-informed decision-making, and creating long-lasting resilience impacts by linking CDRFI to broader resilience planning. Building on these recommendations, Germany introduced the G7 initiative “Working towards a Global Shield against Climate Risks” at the 6th HLCG meeting on 7 April 2022 and requested feedback from HLCG members with a view to ensuring more systematic, coherent, and sustained financial protection.
The endorsement of the Global Shield concept by the HLCG members was at the core of the 7th HLCG meeting, which took place on 14 October 2022 in Washington, D.C., in the margins of the World Bank / IMF Annual Meetings. The panelists were delighted to have the HLCG convened in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, with some joining virtually. At the beginning of the meeting, two special guests were welcomed: Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, H.E. Svenja Schulze and Ghana’s Minister of Finance, H.E. Ken Ofori-Atta. Minister Schulze underlined that the Global Shield is aimed at contributing substantially to closing protection gaps with regard to climate-related losses and damages. She called on members to put their efforts behind the Global Shield in order to make protection for poor and vulnerable countries and people more systematic, coherent and sustained.
Following the endorsement of the concept, HLCG members shared how their organisations plan to contribute to the successful implementation of the Global Shield against Climate Risks in 2022 and beyond. IGP Co-Chair representing V20, H.E. Seedy Keita, Finance Minister of The Gambia advocated for linking the Global Shield and in-country dialogues to the V20 Climate Prosperity Plans, as investment strategies supporting maximum ambition climate action while enhancing socio-economic outcomes.
