Statement delivered by Mr. Malloch-Brown, President, Open Society Foundations (OSF)

V20 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE VIII- 21 April, 2022

 Statements

10:00 pm Dhaka time/12:00 pm Washington DC time

Statement delivered by Mr. Malloch-Brown, President, Open Society Foundations (OSF)

Mr. Malloch-Brown

President, Open Society Foundations

Ministers, Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s a great pleasure to join you today.

And I’m pleased to begin by announcing our support to the V20’s loss and damage facility.  We are pledging a half million dollars as part of a larger commitment we made at the COP26 in Glasgow. We recognize that in some ways, it’s a symbolic commitment, but we hope it will serve to increase pressure on donor governments and others to step up to do their part and meet their responsibilities in this area.

Foundations like Open Society must speak out at a moment like this because of the way these touches on two wider matters;

First, retaining a focus on climate change even as other problems in the world press to the fore. And recognizing as is so clearly articulated and reconfirmed in the latest two IPCC reports that this issue just goes in intensity, even if it’s pushed temporarily from the headlines.

But second, rebuilding a sense of trust and legitimacy in common commitment to meet shared problems and responsibilities. In our response to COVID as a global community, to the current war in Ukraine, or all the coming economic crises rattling towards us down the road, we need to rediscover a spirit of solidarity, of working together, of collaboration, and of trust. So, in supporting this initiative today, we are speaking not just about the critical issue of loss and damage but seeking also to speak to wider issues of trust and burden sharing in our global community.

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