Ghana has been selected to be the host country for the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and Vulnerable Twenty Group of Finance Ministers (V20).

The decision to select Ghana was made at a meeting on Thursday 21 September 2023 on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to amplify the call for climate prosperity and debt sustainability.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum represents 1.74 billion people and US$3.8 trillion in gross domestic product.

Member states have adopted the CVF Leaders’ Declaration, whose demands include a call for the establishment of a fully independent secretariat for the CVF and the V20.

Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is the current chair of the V20 group while President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo serves as the Chair of Climate Vulnerable Forum.

Delivering remarks before the group presented its declaration, President Akufo-Addo said the group’s meeting was timely to enable the CVF to formalise the first step towards establishing full independence for the CVF.

He further said Ghana has committed US$1 million to host the headquarters of the independent secretariat for the first year.

“The decision to establish an independent secretariat for the CVF/V20 was announced in April at the conclusion of the 10th Ministerial Dialogue of the V20 during the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, with significant public support from our partners including the World Bank Group and the IMF,” President Akufo-Addo explained.

“To see this through, Ghana commits US$1 million to host the headquarters of the independent secretariat for the first year, as the various structures of the secretariat get established, to ensure that we build a strong institution that has robust governance structures and resources,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Ken Ofori-Atta in his remarks described the group’s decision to become an international organisation as monumental and called for increased collaboration and investment by member states.

“This group has now, through a declaration by President Akufo-Addo, agreed to be an international organisation which will become the strongest collection of nations that will be advocating for a way in this climate crisis to get around it and ensure that there is fair treatment,” Ofori-Atta said.

“The agreement is that the hosting of the headquarters will be in Ghana, which means that [Ghana is] then going to lead the charge for climate issues. Climate issues are going to be with us for a long time, so this is a very important achievement by the president,” Ofori-Atta said.

NOQ