President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says it is imperative that the newly-established Loss and Damage Fund is made free from the bureaucratic hurdles that have hindered speedy resource allocation of other climate funds. The Fund, which was a crucial element to the collective response of countries to climate change must also be agile and responsive to the needs of those affected, he said. 'Our goal is to ensure that the Fund is a dynamic and effective tool in addressing the immediate impact of climate change on vulnerable nations,' he emphasised. President Nana Akufo-Addo made the remarks at a COP28 finance summit, at the UAE, when the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and Vulnerable (V) 20 Finance Ministers held a stocktake of reforms in the international financial architecture to spur development-positive climate action. This comes a day after the current and incoming chairs of the CVF endorsed and launched the COP28 finance declaration. The finance declaration, endorsed by CVF members Ghana, Barbados, K enya, Colombia, and Senegal, is to build on the V20 Accra-Marrakech Agenda, Bridgetown Initiative 2.0, and Nairobi Declaration, among other initiatives. It highlights the need for a more equitable and effective global financial system in the context of climate change. The leadership of the CVF and V20, in their submissions, said the move was crucial to climate justice, which required having a fit for purpose international financial architecture and international financing model that ensured that climate financing reached the most vulnerable. V20 economies have suffered immense losses amounting to 20 per cent of wealth, amounting to US$535 billion over the last two decades due to climate impact. The event also covered the operational progress of the CVF-V20 and the pivotal role of V20 Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs), national investment-powered strategies that seek to maximise socio-economic outcomes for vulnerable countries and resilient development. Barbados will be the next CVF chair by mid-2024. Form er Maldives President and Founder of the Forum, Mohamed Nasheed, has been appointed as the CVF's first Secretary-General. Source: Ghana News Agency
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