Statement delivered by H.E. Mohamed Nasheed, Secretary-General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, former President of Maldives, founding Presidency of CVF
V20 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE XII
16 April 2024
Washington D.C., USA
H.E. Mohamed Nasheed, Secretary-General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, former President of Maldives, founding Presidency of CVF
Thank you, Chair.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
I am delighted to address this gathering. As the Chair mentioned, I am delighted and privileged to have joined the CVF as its first Secretary-General, based at our new Headquarters in Accra. [I have moved to Accra, it’s my home now. It’s a beautiful place.]
Let me say at the outset that we are deeply indebted to the Republic of Ghana for enabling and financially supporting the establishment of the new CVF headquarters in Accra. The CVF-V20 Secretariat is located at the African Trade House, where many international organizations are located, enhancing the opportunities for CVF-V20 collaboration with potential partners.
The CVF Leaders’ Declaration from last September, and the subsequent CVF-V20 Charter endorsed by the V20 Finance Ministers in Marrakech last year, became the basis for conducting the headquarters agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the Climate Vulnerable Forum. The headquarters agreement came into effect in March 2024, and highlights the terms of establishment of the CVF, including the privileges and immunities accorded to the CVF and its staff, among many other things.
Excellencies, please note that we are looking at a formal commissioning ceremony of the CVF headquarters around midyear when the baton of the CVF presidency will be handed over to Barbados and we look forward to your attendance. Please come to Accra.
With our focus on growth and prosperity in 68 CVF-V20 countries, the role of finance ministers and finance ministries is ever more crucial. The responsibility of financial engineering lies with ministers of finance. Big and bold decisions taken by finance ministers can usher our countries into lasting growth and prosperity. I cannot emphasize enough the central role of domestic resource mobilization given its importance in anchoring the macroeconomic stability of all forms of finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, Chair, we are a brokering, solution brokering agency. I believe our Climate Prosperity Plans are a pathway out of the fire we are in. CPPs are the overall anchor of CVF strategy. They are national strategic plans combining the transition to clean energy, clean technologies and climate adaptation, rich economic growth, prosperity, and improved livelihoods in climate vulnerable developing countries.
Excellencies, I am pleased to inform you that the CPPs are gaining traction across member states, with some being able to mobilize private sector participation in offshore wind and accessing the Resilience and Sustainability Trust of the IMF. So far, almost $10 billion have been committed.
Excellencies, I will focus my efforts on resource mobilization through the Climate Prosperity Plans with supporting the creation of deal teams to prepare the projects and attract investments, debt for climate swaps to support with creating fiscal space and carbon and biodiversity financing opportunities for new revenue streams that can augment financing needs of programs that course-correct us towards transformation.
The CVF-V20 is now a fully independent intergovernmental institution. And our further recognition as an official group in the IMF will not only elevate our voice, but enable us to craft more ingenious solutions for climate prosperity. We will soon embark on regional consultations with our membership, and we will look forward to the leadership of finance ministers in helping us translate your vision of prosperity into reality.
Thank you.
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