Provide fast-paced support to Climate Vulnerable countries – Ofori-Atta urges

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Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has called on Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), the International Development Finance Club and the global financial architecture to swiftly provide the required support to Climate Vulnerable countries to achieve the Climate prosperity plans.

Minister, who doubles as the Chair of the V20 group of Finance Ministers, said a prompt and fast-paced support was a necessary requirement for the achievement prosperity of plans in the face of mounting global crisis that sought to further deepen the financial gap between Vulnerable and the developed countries.

Dr. Osei Oteng Asante, an official of the Ministry of Finance who spoke on behalf of the Minister at a side meeting of the ongoing Conference of Parties (COP 28) in Dubai on the topic, Action for Climate Targets (ACT) for a Net-Zero Future, disclosed that 40 of the 68 Member States of the V20 Group were in debt distress.

“The climate prosperity actions developed by most of the 68 members were constrained by inadequate financing, high cost of capital and the squeeze in fiscal space especially after the Covid crisis” he indicated, adding that this has led vulnerable countries in their full swing of development to build in further vulnerabilities with each investment rather than becoming more resilient.

The Minister noted that, the time is ripe for the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to incorporate climate vulnerability into their resource allocation metrics and ensure that climate vulnerable economies had access to low cost and concessional resources.

He also advocated for the MDBs to scale up credit enhancement tools and guarantees for vulnerable countries and dedicate resources directly to project preparation facilities rooted in member country’s climate prosperity plan.

“By the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in 2024, MDB management should formulate plans for a general capital increase, articulating how the increase in capital will support development-positive climate action” he insisted.

In 2022, US$60.9 billion of MDB climate finance was provided for low-income and middle-income economies. US$38.2 billion, equivalent to 63 percent, of this total was for climate change mitigation finance and US$22.7 billion or 37 percent for climate change adaptation finance. The amount of mobilised private finance stood at US$15.4billion.

The Minister while admitting the commendable support of the MDBs to low-income countries called for a swift process in releasing finance support to these countries as time remain of a real essence in the fight against climate change.

The Climate Prosperity Plain are national investment strategies that seek to maximize socio-economic outcomes for countries on the frontline of the climate emergency, through the deployment of maximized domestic renewable energy potential and climate-proofing of the economy.

The development of Climate Prosperity Plan, the Minister noted is essential to foster climate prosperity through a deliberate climate action which included the adopted Accra-to-Marrakech agenda in October 2023 which outlined a number of salient points.

Other speakers at the event included Saroj Kumar, Global Director for the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice, Pablo Viera, Global Director of the NDC Partnership Support Unit, Jorge Moreira da Silva, Under-Secretary-General and UNOPS Executive Director, Lilian Macharia, Director of Portfolio Management at Green Climate Fund and Emilie Potvin, Director of Partnerships, UNOPS.

By: www.ghanaweb.com