Germany has positioned itself ahead of the forthcoming UN climate summit to lead G7 countries on the issue of “loss and damage” funding for poor countries worst affected by global warming, as it reported its highest ever international climate financing commitments. The federal ministry for economic development on Thursday committed to an increase in funding through a G7-backed financial agreement between Germany and the V20 group of vulnerable nations. Despite the European energy crisis that has hit Germany hard and prompted an extension of the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy, the country is keen to demonstrate that it will keep to its climate goals after taking over the G7 presidency this year.
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Germany’s agreement with the V20 group, dubbed the Global Shield, akin to an insurance fund, is distinct from longstanding calls by the world’s poorest countries for compensation for the effects of greenhouse gas emissions by the rich, through a global loss and damage financing facility. Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s climate envoy, told an FT Energy Transition conference this week that the Global Shield plan was tailored to provide a quick financial response after disasters, to allow assistance “on the ground immediately”.
Morgan also supported calls for a change in the leadership of the World Bank and its action on climate-related finance, after president David Malpass recently declined to say whether he believed in climate science. He later changed his position after pressure from key shareholders including the US and Germany. “We would like to have a leader of the World Bank who understands climate science, and the urgency, and scales up [finance] and with a focus on integrating adaptation and climate into pretty much everything,” Morgan told the FT conference.
