Climate Prosperity Fellowship Programme
Overview
As part of the CVF/V20/GPG Fellowship Programmes, the V20 will begin the “Climate Prosperity Plan (CPP) Fellowship” for V20 members. Participants will be selected from the CVF/V20 member countries, as part of its efforts to promote and drive ambitious climate action and to mobilize international support for climate threatened nations.
The V20 “Climate Prosperity Plan (CPP) Fellowship” outlines a programme of concrete collaboration with Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center and the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS University of London to cooperate around core challenges facing vulnerable countries in the pursuit of global strategies to avert climate breakdown and efforts to pioneer a frontier of economic and financial solutions towards domestic climate finance and development positive climate action.
Initial Programme Scope of Proposed Collaboration
This concept outlines a programme of concrete solutions outlining the collaboration between the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group, Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center and the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS University of London for participants to be better positioned for global strategies in the delivery of Climate Prosperity Plans, combatting specific elements that inhibit the delivery of Climate Prosperity Plans and towards a successful fit-for-climate financial system through the Accra-Marrakech Agenda:
Pillar 1: Make Debt Work for the Climate: It is urgent that we make debt work for the vulnerable and that we overcome the cost of capital hurdles.
Pillar 2: Transform the International and Development Financial System: There is more than enough financial resources in the world economy to transform developing and least developed economies. However, a decisive shift of financial flows is required to unlock the potential of the financial system for the climate vulnerable. For as long as public international and development finance continue to support brown (carbon-intensive/climate-heating) and risky (climate vulnerable) investments instead of green and resilient ones, the transformational potential of the transition will be undermined.
Pillar 3: A New Global Deal on Carbon Financing: We need a new global deal on carbon finance to realize the goal of the Paris Agreement in the near-term, prior to 1.5°C overshoot lock-in. This demands substantial strengthening of 2030 climate targets of major polluting economies that can be enabled through the promotion of ambitious development-positive climate action in low-emitting developing economies. Win-win carbon-finance exchanges can help meet global goals, deliver fair-share action, and provide crucial financial support for ambitious climate action that would otherwise not be viable.
Pillar 4: Revolutionize Risk Management for our Climate Insecure World Economy: We must double down on efforts to accept and address the new climate insecure reality of the world economy and put in place with anticipatory finance (pre-arranged and trigger-based funds) for loss and damage and mainstream surveillance and monitoring of climate risks of all kinds (physical, transition, spillover) in IFI finance and credit rating practices, including through the landmark G7-V20 Global Shield against Climate Risks.
V20 – Boston University – SOAS University of London Collaboration for a Climate Prosperity Fellowship
The participants will be supported to be in a better position to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing climate vulnerable countries, and develop policies to this effect, as well as support the CVF/V20 to advance its priorities in international climate change negotiations and beyond.
During 2023-2024 as many as 20 to 30 V20 members expressed an interest to develop and commence implementation of ambitious national climate prosperity plans (CPPs); building on the example of Bangladesh’s Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan and Sri Lanka’s Climate Prosperity Plan. The V20 is forming a fellowship programme of 16-20 mid- to senior-level finance and planning ministry officials from different V20 member economies engaged in developing and implementing CPPs for the period 2023-2024. The V20, in collaboration with Boston University and SOAS University of London, will develop a specific fellowship programme tailored to the needs of participating V20 Finance and Planning Ministry officials, aimed at bolstering the capacity of V20 Member States to catalyze the necessary financing behind CPPs in support of their fast-tracked implementation.
The way forward to build critical adaptation and resilience means the delivery of development-positive climate action and any lasting solution on climate will require significant reform to the international financial architecture including debt reform, shifting of financial flows to serve climate goals, and mainstream surveillance of climate risks to drive new investment etc.
The fellowship programme will comprise both online and residency modules as feasible; and a syllabus will be developed through close collaboration with the V20, Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center and the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS University London. The fellows will be required to travel to and actively participate in IMF/World Bank Spring and Annual Meetings, supported under the fellowship programme.
Conditions of Participation
Eligible Candidates from Ministries of Finance, Economy and Planning of V20 Member Countries are invited to apply for the fellowship programme. Applicants must meet the following requirements:
▪ Citizen and Government official of a V20 member country[1].
▪ Demonstrated mid to senior-level experience (ideally, 5 to 10 years of experience) in economics, international affairs, public policy and/or development, including climate/sustainable development.
▪ Commitment to follow the training sessions organized throughout the year, both online and in-person.
▪ Willingness to travel abroad to attend various international events like V20 Ministerial Dialogue at the IMF/World Bank Spring and Annual Meetings
▪ Commitment to attend weekly virtual sessions in November followed by two sessions every month for the remainder of the fellowship period.
▪ Commitment to working and sharing information with its national government and national stakeholders after the completion of the Fellowship.
▪ Proficiency in English.
▪ Financial acumen.
▪ The fellowship period will run from October 2023 to June 2024.
Background
● The Vulnerable Twenty Group (V20) of Ministers of Finance represents 68 developing economies that are systemically vulnerable to climate change. The V20 has been active since 2015 in addressing the economic and financial aspects of the climate crisis, meeting once or twice each year during the Spring and/or Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group.
● V20 member states face multiple crises—COVID-19, debt, energy, and climate change—all deeply connected to the development and prosperity of the 68 member states. V20 economies, in particular, face considerable macro-financial risks that can undermine debt sustainability, pressure on fiscal space, and worsening sovereign risk, among other impacts. The contingent liabilities are increasing from growing extreme weather events and increasingly volatile expensive fossil fuels that are unreliable to power economies. The key concern is funding and liquidity to deal with these crises. Actions from the international public finance community and key central banks can help with shorter term liquidity problems and enable long-term investment.
● Likewise, V20 Climate Prosperity Plans face capital investment hurdles that can be overcome through a range of possible instruments with the assistance of the World Bank, other MDBs and international climate finance. The V20 seeks new investment for the Climate Prosperity Plans from net zero investors including through internationally transferred mitigation outcomes, and multilateral and international financial architecture reform towards a fit-for-climate financial system. Any lasting solution on climate will require the kind of reform that transforms the world economy towards the 1.5 centigrade safety limit of the Paris Agreement — to making debt work for the most vulnerable, to overcoming capital hurdles to investment, facilitating global exchange via carbon finance, fully integrating climate risks, development finance institutions (DFIs) prioritizing of climate action, and establishing pre-arranged and trigger-based funds. Moreover, the V20 also looks forward to the implementation of the G7-V20 Global Shield against Climate Risks to scale up financial protection in the form of pre-arranged and trigger-based financing.
How to Apply
Please submit your CV to the following e-mail address: [email protected] and fill out the google form here: https://forms.gle/BoKPFB8QiRgn7kEX7
The application will open on 30 July 2023 and the deadline for applications is on 18 August 2023. A support letter from your government will be requested after the first round of selection. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.
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[1] The V20 membership, currently chaired by the Republic of Ghana, represents some 1.5 billion people including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Palau, Palestine**, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Viet Nam and Yemen.
**As a UN non-member observer state