Pakistan, Ghana, and Bangladesh would be among the first countries to receive financing, according to a G7 initiative named “Global Shield” that would aid countries afflicted by climate disasters. The programme was revealed on Monday in Egypt during the COP27 summit.
Germany is leading the Global Shield effort, which aims to allow climate-vulnerable nations speedy access to insurance and cash for disaster relief in the event of floods or drought. Germany is the country that the G7 president represents. It is being constructed by the V20 group’s 58 economies, which are thought to be climate-vulnerable.
In a statement made public on Monday, Germany named some of the initial recipients of Global Shield supplies as Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Fiji, Ghana, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Senegal.
These packages would be developed, according to Germany, in the coming months. The Global Shield will create support to be deployed in nations when incidents occur over the next few months, backed by 170 million euros ($175.17 million) in funding from Germany and 40 million euros from additional donors, including Denmark and Ireland.
However, several nations and activists were wary, worried that it may jeopardise efforts to get a meaningful agreement on financial assistance for what the UN refers to as “loss and damage”—irreparable harm brought on by global warming.
Svenja Schulze, Germany’s development minister, stated that the Global Shield was meant to supplement rather than replace loss and damage progress.
Avoiding formal negotiations on loss and damage funding arrangements here is not a technique, according to Schulze. “Global Shield isn’t the only answer to damage and loss. Definitely not. A wide range of solutions are required.
According to some study, by 2030, vulnerable nations may experience “loss and damage” from climate change totaling $580 billion annually. The establishment of the Global Shield, according to Ghana’s finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who also serves as chair of the V20 group of vulnerable nations, is “far overdue.” However, some vulnerable nations questioned the program’s emphasis on insurance, arguing that insurance premiums add yet another expense to poor nations with minimal carbon emissions and the smallest contributions to climate change.
