COP27: The G7 nations launched a plan called 'Global Shield' at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference on November 14, 2022. The plan will provide climate funds to disaster-hit countries, news agency Reuters reports. However, some countries have questioned the effectiveness of the Global Shield.
The G7 is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of seven of the world's advanced economies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The European Union is a 'non-enumerated member'. Germany is the President of G7.
The Global Shield plan is coordinated by Germany and the V20 group of climate-vulnerable nations. The V20, which stands for the Vulnerable Twenty Group of Ministers of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, is a dedicated cooperation initiative of economies systematically vulnerable to climate change, and works through dialogue and action to tackle global climate change.
The Global Shield plan aims to rapidly provide pre-arranged insurance and disaster protection funding after natural disasters such as floods, droughts and hurricanes, a Reuters report says.
The Global Shield plan is backed by 170 million euros in funding from Germany and 40 million euros from other donors including Denmark and Ireland. In the next few months, the plan will develop support to be deployed in countries including Ghana, Pakistan, Fiji and Senegal, when disasters occur.
Some countries have questioned the deal
However, some countries and campaigners were wary of the deal. They were concerned that the deal risked damaging efforts to secure a substantive deal on financial help for 'loss and damage'.
According to the report, Germany's development minister, Svenja Schulze, said the Global Shield aimed to complement, and not replace progress in loss and damage.
Quoting Schulze, the report says it is not a kind of tactic to avoid formal negotiation on loss and damage funding arrangements at COP27. She added that Global Shield is not the one and only solution for loss and damage, and that a broad range of solutions is needed.
By 2030, vulnerable nations could experience $580 billion per year in climate-linked 'loss and damage', research suggests.
Ken Ofori-Atta, finance minister of Ghana who chairs the V20 group, called the creation of the Global Shield "long overdue", the report says.
However, some vulnerable countries questioned the focus of the scheme on insurance. Insurance premiums could add another cost to cash-strapped countries that have low carbon emissions, and contribute least to the causes of climate change.