The Resilience Effect: 10 Super Levers to Catalyse Finance in Climate-Vulnerable Countries
We are living through another year of records. A year when hurricanes, floods, droughts and landslides have destroyed lives and property all over the world; a year when prolonged drought and heat stress have fuelled food crises, conflict and migration. The ten biggest climate-related disasters in 2024 cost more than $200 billion – an annual bill which is becoming the new normal.
While these disasters have hit countries and communities all over the world, some are disproportionately affected, particularly the V20, a group of 70 countries highly vulnerable to the climate crisis, with limited historical responsibility and significant structural barriers to financing activities which would help build physical and economic resilience in the face of increasing volatility.
Collectively, estimates suggest that the V20 needs $490 billion a year in climate finance by 2030. But V20 countries face compounding challenges in mobilising this investment, including rising disaster recovery costs, constrained fiscal capacity and limited access to affordable capital and climate finance. Currently, at least a quarter of V20 countries are in or at high risk of debt distress.
In a world where political cycles are short, identifying the highest priority actions has never been more important. That is why this report identifies ten interconnected “super levers” within the global financial system that could collectively unlock an additional $210 billion of affordable climate finance annually to V20 countries and help avoid economic losses of up to $100 billion. These levers not only mobilise resources but create a self-reinforcing cycle to build momentum for the next five years and trigger systemic multiplier effects that amplify their collective impact, addressing immediate and long-term finance needs across four interconnected categories.