Fourth CVF Leaders Meeting on Development Reset and Cooperation

I call the meeting to order. Excellencies, heads of state and government, distinguished ministers, leaders of CVF partner institutions, colleagues, brothers and sisters, friends, good afternoon and welcome to the fourth CVF Leaders Meeting. I am Ambassador Liz Thompson from Barbados, the Sherpa of Prime Minister Mottley to the CVF V20, and it is my privilege on her behalf to welcome you here today as we gather in the margins of this 81st session of the UN General Assembly. This year, our meeting is convened under the theme of development, reset and cooperation. This is more than a call for a policy pivot. It is, in fact, a recognition that incremental adjustments are no longer sufficient to address the scale and interconnectedness of the poly crises which we face. Resilience, prosperity, equity, and partnership must no longer be treated as aspirational at the margins of development policy. They must become central to its achievement. Excellencies, for the countries we represent, the consequences of inaction are immoral, and they're also already being felt across our economies and communities. The moment before us calls for a different approach that anticipates risks, strengthens resilience, and delivers financing at the scale and at the speed which we need. El Nino has formed in the tropical Pacific and forecasters now assign probability that it will reach super El Nino intensity in October to December, reaching a peak. An event of this magnitude would rank among the most significant since records began in 1950. Already, I'm informed that August The monthly global average temperature reached 1.65 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, ranking it with 2023 as the hottest year in recorded history. But what does this mean for the 1.5 Paris limit? It means that we are facing a year of climate disasters and that it is no longer for us an issue of a remote contingency. It must become central to planning for the reality of the year ahead of us. It underscores the imperative of pre-arranged finance. Resources that are mobilized before crisis strikes rather than assembled after its consequences have already taken hold. And this is why today's meeting is focused on three pivotal issues. The first is the vulnerability to viability or V2V compact, our strategic partnership with 16 developing finance institutions so far led by the government of Barbados together with the OPEC Fund for International Development whose president was is in the room. The second is the Lifeline Fund, a multi-regional liquidity arrangement we are designing to meet the needs of members facing balance of payments pressures following tropical cyclones, floods, and droughts. The third is the CVF leaders declaration and member business, including an open call to Asia and the Pacific for the next CVF presidency and an update on the CVF second secretary general. Together, these remarks are the development reset in practice. moving from vulnerability to viability, from reactive crisis management to anticipatory action, and from fragmented support to coordinated cooperation. We will also welcome at this meeting three new members into our family, Zambia, the Central African Republic, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, whose Prime Minister is with us. It is now my distinct honor to invite His Excellency, Dr. Abdulhamid Al Khalifa, President of the OPEC Fund for International Development and our constant partner in advancing the V2V Compact to deliver his remarks. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you, Elizabeth, and thanks for the invitation to speak in this meeting. The Prime Minister, Motley, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, three months ago in Vienna, we were proud to launch the Vulnerability to Viability Compact alongside the V20 and Coalition of Financing Partners in the spirit of South-South solidarity and partnership. We are committed to building on this strong foundation and deepening our partnerships. The compact is built on an important principle. Development finance should be more accessible, more effective, and better aligned with the country's priorities. It focuses on three sectors that are fundamental to human development and long-term resilience, which are water, education, and health. Translating our shared ambitions into tangible progress would require sustained momentum around the compact four pillars. First, scaling concessionality. There is a scope to harmonize lending maturities and pricing criteria, taking into account country-specific debt sustainability constraints and the need for financial sustainability by financial institutions. Dialogue with donor countries on eligibility criteria would also be important. Second, Mobilizing private capital. Risk sharing instruments and credit enhancement can help improve the viability of investment and crowd in private capital. Third, strengthening country ownership. Financing is most effective when it supports country-led systems and is closely aligned with national strategies. and development plans. This is essential for strengthening implementation and lasting results. Fourth, advancing shock-responsive instruments. We see considerable scope for partners to expand the use of flexible financial instruments that help countries sustain essential public services during and after crisis. Allow me to briefly outline the OPIC Fund's engagement in the Compact's priorities. On health, we are expanding our partnerships with a number of organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Rays of Hope initiative to establish cancer treatment centers. Following the first approval in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Preparations are advancing in Liberia and other countries. We are keen to extend this cooperation and welcome proposals from interested V20 countries. On education, together with our partners in the Arab Coordination Group, we will today unveil $1 billion dollar blended finance facility with the Global Partnership for Education. The facility is ready to work with V20 countries to translate national education priorities into investable programs. On water, we are expanding our engagement through the Water Forward Agenda and our Green Blue Connect Initiative. combining water security, climate resilience, and related development priorities. Through our Island Resilience Facility, we are working with regional organization in small island developing states to identify and develop adaptation projects. These initiatives provide practical platform for working with V20 countries to translate water and the climate priorities into investment-ready projects. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, to support progress across all four pillars of the Compact, the OPEC Fund and Barbados will consult closely on the areas in which further technical work would be most useful and most effective. Our aim is to move toward practical recommendations that can improve access to finance and support implementation at the country level. I am convinced that working together, we can translate our determination to turn vulnerability into viability into meaningful and lasting progress. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Dr. Alifa. Thank you for not just your remarks, but for your leadership and your continued commitment to climate-vulnerable countries and helping to support us build sustainable economies. We will now have some updates from the CVF V20 Secretariat.

Thank you, Ambassador Thompson. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I will be brief. I have four points. First, the V2V compact on accompanying white paper will be launched on the 12th of October during the 17th V20 ministerial dialogue, which our finance ministers lead to reflect further detail of the compact. And we now turn our focus to execution, improving affordability and speed through collective effort, which will match the needs of water, health and education. I'm also happy to report that nine countries have now completed their climate prosperity strategies with national endorsement, and 16 more are underway. Second, the Lifeline Fund, which is the first of its kind, multi-regional financial arrangement designed to provide rapid liquidity support when climate shocks translate into balance of payment pressures, is moving towards becoming operational. It is spearheaded by the V20 Central Bank Governors Working Group. In order to move forward, There is a statement of endorsement for countries interested to join, and a draft governing instrument has been circulated to central banks. The objective is to raise at least the floor target of 500 million US dollars from both CVFV 20 members and non-members towards a pathway of at least 1.6 billion dollars. We call on G20 and G7 governments, philanthropies, and other partners to join us in supporting the Lifeline Fund. Third, the science and health agenda, briefings on critical climate issues are circulating, including regular updates on El Nino. We are moving forward as well on coral reefs, high mountains, tropical forests, climate and health, and other focus areas put forward by the presidency and the membership. Fourth, I am pleased to present the candidate of choice for the second Secretary General of the CVF E20, former President Carlos Alvarado Quesada. He served as the 48th President of Costa Rica from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, he received the National Geographic Society Planetary Leadership Award. He is Professor of Practice at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston. He also sits on the boards of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the UN Committee for Development Policy, and the Open Lunar Foundation. The CVFE 20 Secretariat remains at the disposal of Member States. Thank you. Back to you, Ambassador.

Thank you very much. Sarah Ahmed, managing director and finance advisor of the CVF V20. She speed read her notes because you know that we got into the room quite late, so we are trying to condense our efforts and our messages today. We will take perspectives from the Troika and therefore, may I please introduce His Excellency, Sedu Isifu, Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability in the Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana and Doctor Simon Parvez, special assistant to the Prime Minister on Environment, Forest, and Climate Change on climate change affairs and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Excellencies, you have the floor.

Thank you. Ambassador Thompson, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Excellency Mayor Motley, Excellency Heads of State and Government, Dr. Abdulhamid Khalifa, fellow Troca members, colleagues, friends, good afternoon. I am honored to speak today on behalf of my president, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, the president of the Republic of Ghana. In the capacity as a member of Troca, our role is to help sustain continuity of this forum's leadership from the term Ghana held through the term Barbados now holds and to the term that lies ahead of us. Two years ago, Ghana passed this presidency to Barbados with confidence. That confidence has been vindicated. Her Excellency, the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Mottley's leadership has taken us from Washington to Vienna to New York, from a position about how development finance could work differently to the vulnerability to viability compact itself, and now to a lifeline fund within reach of operational reality. This is not incremental progress. It is the development reset we set for ourselves to achieve. For this reason, Ghana respectively requests that Barbados extends its presidency for a further one year. The V2V compact's white paper is still to be launched in Bangkok. The Lifeline Fund still needs founding members. This work deserves continuity of leadership, not a transition at its most delicate stage. At the same time, continuity must not mean delay elsewhere. The forum's strength has always come from its rotation across regions, and Ghana therefore calls on our colleagues in Asia and the Pacific to signal their interest in holding the next CVF V20 presidency. We make this call not to hasten Barbados' departure, but to ensure that when the handing over comes, it is prepared, deliberate, and owned by the region stepping forward. Ghana also welcomes former President Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica as our second Secretary-General. His experience leading a nation through its own climate and development transition and his standing across multilateral institutions will strengthen the secretariat as it moves the V2V compact and Lifeline Fund from architecture to delivery. Excellencies, Ghana continues to advance its own climate prosperity plan and country platform, and we stand ready to support the secretariat as it works with other member states on execution. The measure of this reset will not be declarations we adopt today, but the water system, schools, hospitals, it finances across our membership. On behalf of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, Ghana fully support the declaration before us. I thank you very much.

I thank his Excellency Minister Esifoo and now invite the distinguished representative of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Dr. Simon Pervez, to make his remarks.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I thank the CVF Secretariat and the Barbados Presidency for convening this timely meeting. We gather here not just to recount our vulnerabilities, but to rewrite the story of climate action with justice, ambition, and solidarity at its heart. Bangladesh has long been proud to serve as a voice for the vulnerable. From the Dhaka Declaration of 2011 to the Dhaka Glasgow Declaration of 2021, our leadership has helped place loss and damage at the center of global negotiations resulting in the creation of the loss and damage fund at COP28. This reminds us, when the vulnerable speak together, the world cannot look away. Yet, excellencies, the clock ticks louder. Rising seas, floods, salinity, and cyclones already disrupt daily lives of millions in Bangladesh. For us, climate change is not tomorrow's headline. it is today's struggle of existence. Distinguished delegates, I welcome the central focus on advancing the Vulnerability to Viability V2V Compact. We also express our strong support for the Lifeline Fund, designed to provide rapid liquidity support for climate-induced balance of payment stress. For countries like Bangladesh, where a single climate disaster can wipe out Years of development gains, such instruments are essential. We also advocate for a robust international financial architecture that supports all vulnerable nations at the recent Finance for Development Conference. We need stronger global efforts to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius. Bangladesh is committed to this effort. setting ambitious climate targets in our recent nationally determined contribution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2035. We are also committed to achieving 20% electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030. Today, our nations face a dual crisis of climate and finance. This unmanageable burden forces many nations to divert resources from health and education to service debt. From devastating floods to prolonged salinity intrusion, our people endured the harsh realities of a crisis they did not create. This cost as such the exigencies of daily life. Ladies and gentlemen, looking ahead of Looking ahead towards COP31, allow me to highlight some urgent priorities. First, set an ambitious new collective quantified goal on climate finance that is predictable, concessional and fair. Cheaper long-term finance must actually reach those building water systems, schools and clinics. Second, fully operationalize the loss and damage fund, ensuring swift and accessible disbursement, including mobility and adaptation support. Third, reform the global financial architecture to provide debt relief and concessional financing so that vulnerable nations do not have to choose between building schools or building cyclone shelters. Fourth, countries should not be penalized for progress. As our income rises, our borrowing costs jump sharply, while poverty remains widespread and climate risks keep growing. That transition should be gradual, not sudden. We welcome the declaration's call for exactly this. On leadership, Bangladesh fully supports Ghana's proposal that Barbados extends its presidency for a further year. V20 and the Lifeline Fund are mid-delivery, and continuity is critical to this group's effectiveness. Bangladesh supports the recognition of the CVF V20 as an observer to the UN and endorses the leaders' declaration. Together, we must ensure that climate action becomes a catalyst for sustainable and equitable development for all. The CVF was born from the conviction that the most vulnerable should not only be heard, but should lead. Let us leave New York not only with statements, but with commitments. I thank you.

I thank His Excellency from Bangladesh for his remarks and the Gaiden Troika for its continuous support. And I now invite Her Excellency Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, the Chair of the CVF 20, to deliver the keynote address.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Excellencies, colleagues, friends. Let me thank all of you for being here. And let me thank our Troika colleagues, Ghana and Bangladesh in particular, for the excellent work that they're doing with us to be able to help us make progress. I want to warmly welcome the new members, Zambia, the Central African Republic, and indeed my dear brother from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Each new member strengthens our capacity to defend our people's interests together. even as the climate crisis is denied and access to finance has been constrained. Barbados accepts also the call for us to extend for one year, recognizing that continuity is our duty now to ensure that we can move to the next level. I also want to, in his absence, welcome the former president of Costa Rica, my dear brother, as our next Secretary General, we have done much work in this same building to be able to advance the interests of climate vulnerable countries with respect to the climate crisis. Much mention has been made about the need for us to gain observer status to this UN General Assembly. Can I ask that we leave here with the singular purpose of canvassing we know what it is to Canvas because most of us are here because we learned the art of canvassing please Canvas now on behalf of CVF to ensure that we get that Observer status and let us also make one other commitment Go and bring one. Each of us bring one. Godwin, you have now come. There are still a few others in CARICOM who need to step forward. In Africa, my dear brother from Sierra Leone, there are still a few others who need to come forward. Dr. Pervez, in Bangladesh, you've stepped forward. There are still a few others in Asia. And if we can take this approach, then our aim is to have more members than half of the UN system. which means that we need to get to at least 96 members in order to be able to speak in this body and globally with the authority that we need to speak to gain the progress that we need to gain. And I say so conscious that we are really here with progress to report because others also have accepted the importance of what it is we're trying to do. I want to thank deeply, profoundly Dr. Khalifa and the OPEC Fund for International Development, who less than one year ago responded to the simple question, do we want to see change in the trajectory of development finance? And can we show the rest of the world as members of the global south that it is possible for us to innovate in the interests of our people? This came down to us accepting that we need longer-term concessional finance for education, health and water loans. Even before we complete the process, having signed the V2V compact in Vienna in June, and on our way now, as you heard from Sarah, to go to the annual meetings in Bangkok to meet on the 12th of October. Even as we are doing that, you heard Dr. Alkhalifa announce this morning opportunities in education, opportunities in water and climate resilience, opportunities in health, without us waiting to reach the final destination in order to be able to give assistance to our member states. This is exactly what we want to see. For those who have forgotten, the four pillars upon which the V2V compact stand, of course, is scaling up the concessionality in those three areas of education, water and health, schools, clinics and water augmentation. Secondly, mobilising private capital, of which there is tremendous amounts within our countries, but because of our failure to appropriately mobilise it and blend it with what we receive from outside, we are not getting the best advantage of it. Thirdly, Having country ownership, we have complained for too long how others stood in Washington and determined what our priorities should be. This is an example for us to make our own priorities, not only in what we do, but also how we do it, so long as we respect the fundamentals necessary to support development finance. And fourthly, using shock response innovative instruments such as debt pause clauses, pandemic clauses, debt swaps and other things to be able to augment the amount of money that is available to us. But my friends, you and I both know that a compact on paper is not a hospital or a school, or indeed the ability to lay pipes that can carry clean water to our people. We need to move beyond that. And therefore the white paper, which is being prepared as we speak, will present a toolbox of options for countries, for development finance institutions, and for other stakeholders to consider. I really do want to thank the members of the Arab Cooperation League, as well as the other development finance institutions who joined to help us constitute the 16 members so that we have a credible platform upon which to bring this change in process. But that toolbox to which I referred will only truly be authentic if you have a say in it. And therefore, we need to ensure that it reflects what your needs are, not only what we assume that they are. And I therefore ask you to continue your active engagement as we move to Bangkok. The Secretariat is willing to hear your perspective, and we're going to try to incorporate as much as possible in order to reach that destination. I ask you, therefore, not to treat this as just simply another event that you've come to attend at UNGA week, but one that has given you homework and one that will require you not just to canvas, but also to reflect on where you think the toolbox can be improved. It is against that backdrop I also want to thank the central bank governors who very often are laws unto their own selves, but who on this occasion have recognized that they still are part of global civilization and that they want to be able to make a difference as well with the rest of us who are trying to lift heavy weight. That proposal, called Lifeline, is intended to be able to ensure that, irrespective of what other access you have to liquidity platforms, that we create our own liquidity platform within the V20 so that we can help countries adapt to the immediate realities post-disaster and to give liquidity when liquidity is most needed. is against that backdrop therefore that we really want to urge not only members but to also canvas non-members so that we can rapidly move not to the 500 million floor that Sarah mentioned but at least a 1.6 billion and preferably 2 billion dollars because at the end of the day at the same time that we are speaking our membership is expanded and therefore the sums of money that we use to capitalize Lifeline must be appropriate to the needs of the increasing membership that we are getting here. With respect to the lifeline as well, in addition to that, I'm asking you to make sure that you go back home and make sure that those of you whose central bank governors are not yet on board, that you ask them to please come on board on this lifeline proposal. because it is intended not to subtract, not to divide, but to add and multiply to your options and to your possibilities in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. I will end on this point. I'm told that there is in Africa, for example, the reality of at least 300 million beyond the 300 million that the World Bank is committed to providing along with other development financial institutions access to electricity for. At the same time, we are also clear that in the last decade, 15 years, we've seen the prices of solar and renewable energy storage, electric end-use technologies, the prices have fallen in some instances as by as much as 30% in other instances by as much as 95%. At the same time, we are seeing a far more judicious approach to the whole issue of energy, ensuring that we look at ways of being able to extend credibly what fossil fuels can do in a world where we will not all have access to the commodities necessary to be able to build out renewable energy. So while we work to maximize our renewable energy potential, we work to be able to get the fossil fuel companies to reduce their methane emissions and to be able to scale up the research on decarbonizing technology so as to allow a fair opportunity for development to be available to all citizens and equally as important, a fair opportunity for economic development to countries who have been told simply abandon the past and do not find ways of using fossil fuels to help finance their way to net zero. We know that we are complex beings complex biological beings. We can walk, we can chew, and we can think all at the same time. And that is what we're trying to do by getting the right policy matrix such that we protect the planet and people without necessarily submitting ourselves to zealotry, winning one battle and then losing all of the others. It is against that backdrop that we recognize that renewable energy has one major advantage over all others, that the wind, the sea, the water, is the patrimony of ordinary people. And if we can maximize the use of those resources, then it helps us in the management of scarce foreign exchange and be able to ensure that the enfranchisement of our people by investing in those areas that are theirs to participate in will ensure that we help move more and more of our people into positions of wealth through enfranchisement, while at the same time ensuring that we minimize the use of foreign exchange. And as we are seeing now with the conflict with Iran to minimize the extent to which the geopolitical realities are constraining our ability to access energy. For those who are on the east of the Straits of Hormuz or to the south of the Straits of Hormuz, for you it is a question of whether you could access product. For us in the Caribbean and in the Americas, it was less a question of access and more a question of increased costs, largely because of the geopolitical realities of our world. But what has happened since then? In addition to the Straits of Hormuz, we now have the additional choke point that has been put in place by reason of the Houthis taking efforts to be able to control the Red Sea. And at the same time, of course, we have the announcements from the Panama government that they are reducing the number of vessels coming through the Panama Canal in any one month because of the drop in water levels that will affect, obviously, the functioning of the locks. This is a trifecta. that will literally compromise countries in terms of their access to energy. And I hope that as we move forward on the V2V compact, focusing on education, water and health, we recognize the critical importance not to lose sight of the continued efforts to guarantee energy security to our citizens, predominantly through renewable energy, but also by encouraging those fossil fuel producers to reduce methane emissions and to scale up on the decarbonizing technology for commercial application. My friends, I ask you, therefore, not just simply to attend today, but to recognize that the work which we have put on the table for each of you is a little homework that will make our institution stronger in a way that I stand here today watching an institution that has grown both in size grown in mandate and grown in progress in terms of what we have achieved. I have every confidence that this is an institution on the ascendancy and it is up to us who are here to make sure that this is not only the reality of the 77 countries who have joined it, but that the other countries of the world recognize its importance and are prepared to work with us in the interests of saving planet and people. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Prime Minister, for your remarks and for your visionary and strategic leadership. Colleagues and friends, we have a challenge, and it is that the room was given to us way later than was scheduled. That is coupled with a very long speakers list. Now, there are two things that we need to do. One is to get our CVF leaders declaration out of the way, which I propose we turn to next, and then we go to our speakers list. Naturally, we will have our heads of government and heads of state first. I'm asking that all speakers not read extended statements out of courtesy to all of the speakers who want to make interventions and that you give us what is the core of the remark that you want to make today. If you submit your your speaker's notes or your written intervention to the secretariat, it can become part of our next newsletter. We can actually have it printed. We can actually have it disseminated electronically for you so that you will not lose the opportunity to make your full intervention to a large audience. But today in the interest of time there there are 18 speakers inscribed and we have half an hour. So you see the peculiar difficulty with which I am faced. And in consequence I will have to cut you if you do not follow my request. Thank you. Okay. So We turn our attention then to the CVF leaders declaration. You've had an opportunity to review. I'm therefore going to remind you as the Prime Minister has that we are trying to get observer status. You know that. I'm not going to repeat it. All right, so we're going to reverse the order. We are going to move to statements. But before we close, we're still going to have to agree the declaration. So we'll try to do as many statements as we possibly can. Please forgive me for our shifting around the agenda, but you appreciate that if we get a room half hour late, then we have a challenge. I invite to make his intervention, his excellency, Doctor Julius Mara Beo. of the president of Sierra Leone, your excellency, thank you very much for your presence. You have the floor.

changing our climate, yet our people face floods in Freetown, mudslides on our hillsides, coastal erosion, and lost harvest. We borrow at high cost than advanced economies, and we borrow to rebuild after disaster that we did not cause. That cycle is not development strategy. It is a trap, and that trap must be broken. This is why Sierra Leone warmly welcomes the Vulnerability to Viability Compact. Its principle is the right one. Countries lead and finance institutions align. We ask our partners to lower the cost of capital, speed up access, and channel resources through strong national investment platforms. Sierra Leone stands ready to be an ally partner, and Sierra Leone also endorses the governing instrument of the Lifeline Fund. We urge partners to capitalize it adequately and keep it fast, predictable, and free of burdensome conditions. Excellencies, climate action is no longer a matter of political goodwill, it is law. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas in 2024 and the International Court of Justice in 2025 confirmed binding obligations, including the duty to cooperate through financial assistance to vulnerable states. The V2V compact and the lifeline phone are concrete ways to give effect to that duty. We do not seek sympathy. We seek fair terms and real partnership. Let the leaders' declaration we adopt today move from ambition to delivery, and let us carry this momentum together to COP31. Sierra Leone fully supports Ghana's proposal, and I thank you all.

Your Excellency, President Beelo, I thank you for your brevity. I saw you truncating your statement, and I'm grateful that you did so in the interest of time. Thank you so very much for your very useful comments and for your endorsement. I invite now the Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda, the Right Honourable Dr. Justin Sinigaya Mba, to take the floor.

Thank you, Your Excellency Mia Amon Motley, Prime Minister of Barbados and Chair of the CVF V20. Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Honourable Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. On behalf of the Government of Rwanda, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in this important event. As a member of the Climate Vulnerability Forum, Rwanda understands our shared responsibility to respond meaningfully to the climate crisis. Like many countries represented here today, Rwanda's experience of climate vulnerability is from abstract. Our national vulnerability assessments show the exposure deepening year on year in livelihoods, in agriculture, infrastructure, and across our economy. What is more worrisome is that recent projections put the cost starkly, indicating that climate-related impacts could shave 5% to 7% of our GDP. And that's not a distant risk or a single disaster to recover from. It is a standing tax on our development, levied whether or not we caused the damage. This is precisely why the Climate Vulnerability Forum exists And that's why Rwanda takes seriously what membership asks of us. We support the CVF V20 leadership declaration and the operationalization of the Lifeline Fund. We support the push for UN observer status for the CVF V20 because the country is carrying this burden should have a stronger voice in the rooms where decisions about it are made. And we support reform of the international financial architecture because adaptation at the scale our vulnerability demands will not be financed on today's terms. We need concessional finance and investment that matches the urgency we are describing. But we also convinced that adaptation alone cannot be where this ends. We can build all the resilience in the world and still lose ground if emissions keep rising at their current speed. That responsibility falls first on the highest emitters, but all of us have a role, and Rwanda intends to play our role. That brings me to one of the fastest, most concrete levers available to any of us, which is the full implementation of the Kigali Amendment to the Marrakesh Protocol. Fully implemented, this amendment avoids up to half a degree of warming by the end of the century, and paired with improvements in energy efficiency, that impact doubles to a full degree. few actions on the table today after that much climate benefit for that much achievable effort. This November, Rwanda is proud to host the 38th meeting of the parties to the Marrakesh Protocol, marking 10 years since the Kigali Amendment was adopted. And today, here in New York, we are launching the Friends of the Kigali Amendment, a coalition to drive universal ratification, accelerate implementation, mobilize the partnerships and resources needed, and ensure industry delivers efficient, climate-friendly cooling technologies at scale. I invite you to join this coalition, and I invite you to Kigali in November for MOP 38 to help finish what the amendment started. So together, we can take practical steps to reduce the vulnerabilities we all understand deeply and make our countries more secure. I thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Honourable Prime Minister. I invite His Excellency Dr. Godwin Friday, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to make his remarks. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you very much and thank you, colleagues, especially Chair Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and thank you so much for welcoming us to this forum. And Dr. Abdulhamid Al-Khalifa, thank you so much for the tremendous support that you've given to this particular initiative. We are delighted to be a part of this Climate Vulnerable Forum. It brings together not just persons or countries who will aim to benefit from it, but in our case, we bring direct testimony on the front lines into this common struggle for human survival and economic equity. Thank you for welcoming us to the forum. We are a country that has been inflicted or suffered from hurricane barrel recently that destroyed a section of our country where destruction was total. We also were recovering from a natural disaster in our in in in our last eruption. That came at a time when we were also already in debt distress. We in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines support the move towards alternate forms of financing, and for reform in the financial system, the architecture of the financial system that does not benefit countries in the situation that we are in. Outmoded middle income metrics continue to deny vulnerable island states such as ours access to concessional resources, forcing borrowing on commercial terms to repair damage caused by global emissions. Help us to continue to work in these forums and in others to make funding available to deal with these problems that we confront. The development reset led by this forum must replace fiscal depletion with durable prosperity. St. Vincent and the Grenadines fully endorses the Vulnerability to Viability Compact. Critical investments in water security, schools, resilient healthcare, cannot depend on short-term, essentially punitive debt. Such investments require a long-term, 40-year terms, longer if possible, and borrowing rates priced below the national economic growth rate. Furthermore, this government, our government, registers our full endorsement for the government instruments of the Lifeline Fund. This is a big deal. And we thank you for your efforts, Prime Minister Motley and others who have been pushing to have this done. any hesitancy regarding temperature overshoots must be rejected. The 1. 5 degrees remains a non-negotiable boundary for island states. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines stands united with the climate vulnerable forum in decisive, transformative action in coming together as a group to unlock long-term funding for I call on all countries to support, and Prime Minister Motley, I take up the challenge to encourage my CARICOM colleagues all to join.

Thank you so very much, Prime Minister. I now invite His Excellency Sashair Kenaal, the Foreign Minister of Nepal, to take the floor. And, sir, we extend to you our heartfelt condolences and concern at the tragedies recently suffered in your country.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Excellencies, it is an honor to address the Leaders' Meeting of the Climate Vulnerable Forum. I commend Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the Presidency of Barbados for their tireless leadership and moral clarity in championing the cause of climate vulnerable states on the world stage. I come to this forum with very heavy heart. As you know, recently, just on August 26th morning, a flood at the scale of tsunami hit mountain communities. So far, about 1,400 people have lost their life and 6,000 people are still missing. Many of our towns are completely swept away. Our bridges, roads, infrastructure has been swept away, and we are still grappling with early stage recovery. In the interest of time, I will sort of be very brief and jump into the core section of my call upon the international community. particularly a reset on five areas of urgent requirement for international finance reset. First, accelerating climate resilient development. Every infrastructure investment from transportation corridors to community water system must be built to withstand climate risks. We welcome the operationalization of the Lifeline Fund to provide rapid liquidity when shocks trigger severe balance of payments pressures. Second, overhauling development finance or climate shock must never spiral into a debt crisis. Even current, our early state assessment from this current crisis is we would need about $5 billion for reconstruction and rehabilitation of our community, which is almost a third of Nepal's national budget and about 15% to 20% of Nepal's GDP alone. So Nepal strongly endorses the Bridgetown Initiative spearheaded by Prime Minister Motley and the vulnerability to viability V2V compact to unlock affordable grant-based financing and scale the debt pause clauses. Third, investing in anticipatory science and early warnings. We must expand impact-based early warning systems, real-time satellite telemetry, and cross-border data sharing across the entire continuum from high-altitude glaciers down to the sea. Fourth, driving green and digital transitions. We must accelerate an equitable transition away from fossil fuels by expanding clean hydropower and regional grid links. Nepal is ready to serve as a green battery for regional decarbonization in South Asia while creating digital economic opportunity for our youth. Fifth, delivering genuine loss and damage. The loss and damage fund must be capitalized with new addition-based grants, repackaged commercial debt that extract interest from the tragedy. Nepal stands ready to work hand in hand with every member state of the Climate Vulnerable Forum to amplify our collective voice and to secure the shared future that our people deserve. Thank you.

Your Excellency, I thank you for your intervention and assure you that the CVF 2020 stands in solidarity with you. It is now my pleasure to invite to make her remarks the Minister of State in the Department for Energy Security of the United Kingdom, Ms. Katie White. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

sincere condolences to our friend from Nepal. Friends, Ambassador, and thank you Prime Minister Motley for your chairmanship and leadership. You once summed up international cooperation in two simple words, togetherness and fairness, and that captures what we are here to do today. Fairness because countries have done the least to cause the climate crisis are often experiencing some of its most severe consequences. Togetherness because none of us can tackle those consequences alone. As the UK's Climate Minister, my message is simple. We want to work with you in a way that is practical, equal, and shaped by the realities that you face. Because what happens in one part of the world does not stay there. A failed harvest can push up food prices thousands of miles away. Extreme weather disrupts supply chains, damage infrastructure, and puts pressure on public finances. So our approach has to start with listening. Countries and leaders in this room have been clear about what they need. Finance that is easier to access, responds quickly, and backs the priorities that you set for yourselves. We know what a difference that can make. When Cyclone Ramal approached Bangladesh, a UK and Canada supported forecasting program identified 30 points where coastal embankments were at risk. That meant local people could act before the storm arrived and strengthens those defenses. That's resilience in practice. The UK supports reform of the international financial system so that institutions like the World Bank and IMF can a lot more investment in adaptation, resilience, and sustainable development. That's why the Foreign Secretary has taken on the role the UK governor to the World Bank, and partnership means backing. Partnership means backing, sorry. My thing's gone crazy.

Please wrap up.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I thank her Excellency for her intervention and I invite the distinguished foreign, the distinguished, distinguished minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation of the Republic of Zambia, his excellency Mulambo Hayambi. and in his absence, I invite his excellency Ismael Nabe, minister of planning and international cooperation and development the Republic of Guinea to take the floor.

Thank you very much. Chair, Madam Prime Minister, Excellencies, Head of State and Government, distinguished Ministers, Guinea joined the Climate Vulnerability Forum in 2021 at a time where we were already confronting the reality of challenging climate. Since then, like so many countries, we have continued to experience the growing cost of climate shock, shock that drive increasing frequency and intensity, and too often faster than the finance required. Guinea fully support the Vulnerability to Viability Compact. Our proposition is both simple and overdue. Development finance must be designed around the economic and social life of the asset is great, not around the short-term horizon of the institution that finance them. Water systems, schools, hospitals, energy infrastructure, resilient public assets are built to serve generations. Their financing should therefore give countries the space and predictability to realize their full development value. We look forward to the two VIF white paper in Bangkok, and Guinea stands ready to bring its own priority and experiences to that process. Guinea also welcome support the extension of Barbados presidency to fully support that the important work on V2 and the lifetime fund can move from design to delivery. And also Guinea countries like Guinea, we welcome the call for standardizing and then comparable lending terms. for multinational development banks as well as differentiating instrument capable of reaching the pocket of vulnerability. Countries like Guinea, climate vulnerability is not an asset concept, it's development constraint. It can also raise years of progress in a matter of days and it can force government to choose between responding for today's emergency and advancing in tomorrow development. This is precisely why the development reset matters. We must move from model which vulnerable countries are repeatedly asked to recover from shock to one in which they are unable to build resilience before the next shock arrives. We must move from reaction to anticipation. We must move from emergency finance to predictable finance. from vulnerable to viability, and ultimately from climate vulnerability to climate prosperity. Friends, Guinea therefore fully endorses the declaration before us today and remains committed to working with all of the member countries family today to turn our collective priorities into practical result. Our objective is not simply to survive to climate crisis. It has built economic and society resilient enough to prosper despite it. I thank you for your attention.

I thank His Excellency, the distinguished Minister of Guinea, and invite Her Excellency, Dr. Jennifer Simons, President of Suriname, to take the floor. Your Excellency.

Thank you. Good afternoon. I'll put the call up, sir. Well, the CFF leaders meeting here is at a very important moment because Suriname, for example, is one of only two carbon negative countries. But until today, we, as other countries, vulnerable countries, struggle. We experience the adverse effects of the changing climate, and what we have seen in the past decades is that this changing climate robs many developing countries of even the scarce opportunities they have for social economic development and progress. But there is still no mechanism today for real assistance of these countries for the loss of economic growth after natural disasters. There is assistance for the acute phase, but no assistance, no real assistance to guarantee the recovery, the economic recovery, and gain what they have lost after natural disasters. Vulnerability should not determine our future. We should determine what it is that we can build through our efforts together with partners who are prepared with us to work with us on fair terms. We know what is happening in our countries through the changing of climate. What we need is cooperation, this cooperation and the partners that understand that our countries need and have a right to development as well and not being set back every so often by the changing climate, specifically the low-lying countries and small island nations. Suriname supports this forum declaration on development reset and cooperation, and we are ready to partner with you. Thank you.

Thank you for your intervention, Madam President, and invite His Excellency Rohe John Manjang, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources of the Republic of Gambia, to make his statement.

Thank you, Ambassador Thompson. The Gambia comes to this meeting with a clear sense of what this reset requires, not another strategic document. For that reason, we have recently adopted our NDC3 aligned with our climate prosperity investment and financial strategy, simply because we intend to bridge and translate ambition into concrete investable programs and implementation. To support delivery, we are advancing the Gambia Climate Change Funds as our national climate change platforms and working with our central bank and domestic financial institutions to develop a green finance taxonomy and climate risk disclosure framework. Together, these efforts are intended to strengthen the enabling environment for mobilizing public and private capital towards our climate and development priorities. We are not alone in this. We thank the CVF, V20 Secretary for its close partnership in this work. and to our other partners and for their continuous engagement and support throughout this journey. This is what we need. Excellencies, this is not the good story only. We have also the negative side. For the data, the Gambia needs more than $2 billion climate finance gap in just the first phase of this strategy. And the 2022 floods alone has told us that we have lost, estimated, $20 million in loss and damage, on the top of everyday pressure that climate sucks places on a small, fiscally constrained economy on an active IMF program. Our experience, therefore, demonstrates why strong countries, ownership, and credible national investment platform must be matched by equally serious international partners, and also climate financing, that is also right. on the skills and also terms and the speed. The Gambia therefore wants to just to recognize the position of Ghana that we need to support Barbados for the second run of another year. But also we want to also mention that the Gambia welcomes not only the continuity of the term, but also warmly welcome His Excellency Carlos from Costa Rica as our second Secretary General. On behalf of my president, the Gambia fully endorses the CVF leadership declaration before us today, including its call for grant-based and highly concessional finance for countries like ours, and its calls for GF V20 recognition as a UN observer. I thank you.

Thank you very much, Excellency. I now invite his excellency, Dr. Ashni Singh, Senior Minister for Finance in the Office of the President of the Republic of Guyana. Your excellency, you have the floor.

Much, Ambassador Thompson, Prime Minister Motley, excellencies, delegates, ladies and gentlemen.

I will avail myself, Madam Chair, of your invitation to submit a written statement. And on the floor this afternoon, we'll simply highlight a few brief points on Guyana's behalf. I wish first of all, Madam Chair, to convey to you, particularly Prime Minister Motley, and all around the table, the sincere apologies of my president, President Irfan Ali, who is in fact currently addressing another engagement in this room.

Notwithstanding President Ali's inability to be here and the regrets that he's asked me to convey.

We wish to salute Barbados' outstanding leadership of the CVF.

Which we believe amply illustrates that small and vulnerable countries such as ours are not content simply to be victims of the problem, but instead are capable of being at the forefront of the design of effective solutions. Guyana warmly welcomes the progress made in concluding the Vulnerability to Viability Compact and the Lifeline Fund for both of which we express our strong support. We acknowledge the support of the OPEC Fund for International Development.

We support the CVF's application to be to be granted observer status of the United Nations.

We support the leadership declaration and we also strongly support the proposal that Barbados's leadership be extended.

For a further year.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Your Excellency, for your intervention. I now invite the Minister of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic, His Excellency Akul Toktog'bayev. You have the floor, Your Excellency.

Excellencies, heads of states and government, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I'd like to express my appreciation to the leadership of the Climate Vulnerable Forum for convening the fourth meeting of leaders and for the opportunity to once again join your efforts on one of the key challenges of our time, ensuring that the climate vulnerable countries have access to sufficient, affordable and sustainable financing. Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous and climate vulnerable country. Climate challenge has long gone beyond the environmental agent alone. It is directly linked to water, food, and energy security, the resilience of agriculture and infrastructure, the conditions of mountain ecosystems, and the well-being of our people. Therefore, today, it is important for us to discuss not only the amount of climate finance, but also the conditions under which it is provided. how well it reflects national priorities, whether it allows countries to respond to climate shocks in a timely manner. In this context, Kyrgyzstan welcomes the vulnerability to viability compact. We see this initiative as an important step towards a fairer, more accessible financial system that responds to the real needs of climate vulnerable countries. For us, four areas are particularly important. First, extending access to Concessional long-term financing for climate-vulnerable developing countries, investing in resilient means in preventing future losses and ensuring long-term development. We need more accessible, predictable, and long-term resources for adaptation, water security, resilience, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and the economic ecosystem. Second, mobilizing private capital. Third, developing financial instruments that take climate emergency into account. Dear colleagues, Kyrgyzstan sees the V2V compact as an opportunity to move from political commitment to practical mechanisms. We also consider the development of a carbon market as one of the tools for mobilizing additional resources to implement national climate priorities. Our priority is to establish a transparent and effective carbon market system, including institutional.

Thank you so very much. I'm going to have to exercise my authority as chair. We are going to lose the lights in five minutes. We are going to lose the lights in five minutes, and we have several speakers left, and we have to get the leaders' declaration endorsed. I really apologize. So we are going to move to the leaders declaration. We are going to get that hopefully endorsed and we will come back to the speakers list and ask people to make very brief interventions and submit your statement so that we can publish them on our website. I really, it is out of my hands. We will lose the lights. So, declaration. We turn then to the leaders declaration. If which it is our practice to ask member states to endorse the draft has been circulated. We spent three or four days receiving amendments and going through it paragraph by paragraph. We now therefore ask if there are any objections to the declaration, if not, we can endorse it quickly and move back to our speakers list. Hearing no objections, the declaration is endorsed. Thank you. We move back to the speakers list. I invite his excellency Vika Save Voke Laveke Mao. Sorry, I know I couldn't have gotten that right. The Minister of Finance and National Planning of the Kingdom of Tonga, Her Excellency, to make an intervention, and we would be happy to carry the full text of your statement on our website.

I have just two points. One is Tonga also proudly endorses the Lifeline Fund, and moreover, Tonga has just formally expressed its support for the V20 Pacific Window on prearranged finance. The second point is, Chair, in a spirit of deepened engagement, on behalf of the Honorable Prime Minister, Lord Fa'afonua, Tonga also formally expresses its strong interest to serve as the next presidency of the CVF V20, ready to bring the Pacific voice as large ocean states and help drive the forefront of global climate finance resilience for sustainable development. I thank you.

I thank you and I congratulate you. There are two next speakers in this order will be the COP 31 presidency, Faith Turan, general director, followed by the Undersecretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Republic of the Philippines, followed by the Undersecretary General of DESA, Mr. Lee Juhan. And he left? Okay. So we have two statements. I ask you to be very brief so that we don't lose the lights.

Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of COP31 presidency, I would like to thank you for your invitation. It's a great pleasure to join you at the fourth Climate Vulnerable Forum Leaders Meeting. At the outset, I would like to comment the leadership of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, and in particular, the presidency of Barbados for keeping the voices and priorities of climate vulnerable countries at the center of the global climate agenda. Climate change is no longer a distant or future challenge. For many vulnerable countries, it's already affecting development, economic stability, food and water security, livelihoods and social resilience. This is why this message of the CVF is particularly important. Climate action must be translated into concrete development outcomes and practical solutions. As the incoming COP31 presidency, Turkey attaches great importance to moving from commitments to implementation. In this context, the priorities of the CUF are highly relevant to the direction of COP31. We believe that climate action should respond to the realities faced by countries and communities on the ground, particularly those that are most exposed to climate impacts and have limited fiscal and institutional capacity to respond. Access to adequate, predictable and affordable climate finance remains one of the key conditions for effective climate action. Initiatives such as the Vulnerable to Viable Compact demonstrate the importance of developing practical financial approaches that can help vulnerable countries move from exposure and vulnerability towards resilience and long-term viability. We also recognize the importance of mechanisms that can provide rapid financial support following climate-related shocks and disasters. From Turkey's perspective, the discussion should therefore focus not only on the volume of climate finance, but also in accessibility, predictability, effectiveness and speed of deliveries. These priorities have a strong connection with the concerns expressed by the CVF. As we approach COP31, Turkey will continue to listen carefully to the priorities of vulnerable countries. The concerns raised by the CVF on adaptation, climate finance and resilience, debt sustainability, disaster risk financing and loss and damage are important elements of the broader international climate agenda. Thank you.

Thank you very much, COP Presidency. The Philippines, followed by the foreign minister of PNG, followed by the vice president of CAF, and you understand these are 30-second interventions.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The Philippines supports the adoption of the CBF Leaders Declaration and welcomes its call for a development reset. For the Philippines, this reset must translate commitments into accessible finance, stronger national systems, and practical mechanisms that deliver before, during, and after climate shocks. We welcome the advancement of the Vulnerability to Viability, or V2V, compact. We support continued efforts to mobilize development finance and private capital while ensuring that the financing terms are better suited to the long-term nature of investments in essential public assets. We also welcome the governing instrument of the V20 Lifeline Fund. We therefore support efforts to operationalize the fund and broaden participation and financial support. We underscore the importance of science and early warning systems as foundation of resilience. The Philippines supports the declaration's call for a more inclusive and responsive international financial architecture. The Philippines remains committed to working with fellow CBF B20 members and partners to advance the V2V compact, operationalize lifelines, strengthen country-led climate action, and build a pathway toward resilient and sustainable development. Thank you.

invite Pakistan to take the floor, PNG. I invite Pakistan to take the floor, Pakistan.

Thank you. Allow me to congratulate Prime Minister Mia Mottley

on the extension of the Barbados presidency, which we warmly endorse, and to welcome the newest members of our forum, the Central African Republic, Zambia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. I will also be short. Since we last met, Pakistan has finalized its climate prosperity plan.

and an investor book of 69 bankable projects, which we intend to grow further before COP31.

Together with our NDC 3.0 and National Adaptation Plan, these chart our path from vulnerability to resilience. We welcome the introduction of the Vulnerability to Viability Compact and look forward to the operationalization of the Lifeline Fund.

And we also welcome the Leaders' Declaration, which we do endorse.

Thank you. The ladies have led the way with the brevity though. Thank you. Thank you very much everyone for your presence, for your enthusiastic participation, for the endorsement of Barbados continuing our role in the presidency, we assure you of our intention to give the very best service that we possibly can to these this organization which is very near and dear to us. We are at an end. In the coming months, we will continue to press forward on all of the issues on which we spoke. I do not intend to do a longer closure than this. Thank you.

Reset.

Maybe it's like.

I think that it's time to start. If you are so nice to take your seat, please. Please take your seat. We are ready to start. Okay. Okay. Good. Good afternoon. I am Barbara Faedda, the EPLo permanent observer to the United Nations, and I am glad to welcome you all today on behalf of the permanent mission of Greece and the permanent mission of Italy, which, in cooperation with EPLo and with Armenia, Mexico, and ICROM's co-sponsorship, organized this important initiative. Looting and the illicit trafficking of cultural heritage have affected peoples and communities for generations. As outlined in the concept note, we are confronted with complex challenges that require international cooperation, cultural diplomacy, and a shared sense of responsibility. Building mutual trust and strengthening long-term collaboration among states and institutions is essential to addressing these challenges effectively. These issues are close to all our hearts. Last year, in recognition of its work on cultural heritage and the rule of law, EPLAW was invited by UNESCO to attend the 25th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention as an observer, and I had the honor of attending the proceedings in Paris. Today's distinguished panel represents an important step toward stronger international cooperation, dialogue, and a more coordinated response to the challenges we face. With that in mind, allow me to turn to the rich program ahead. I am pleased now to give the floor to His Excellency, to Her Excellencies, Ms. Alexandra Papadopoulou, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished guests, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to this side event on the margins of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, jointly hosted by Greece and Italy in cooperation with the European Public Law Organization. Let me begin by thanking our partners for their close cooperation in bringing this initiative to fruition, and all of you for being with us today. We meet at a time when cultural heritage, and in particular cultural property, is facing increasingly complex and interconnected threats. Armed conflicts, the deliberate destruction of cultural sites, looting, and the illicit trafficking of cultural property continue to affect monuments, archaeological sites, museums, and collections across the world. What is at stake goes far beyond individual objects or sites. Cultural property carries the memory, identity, and dignity of peoples and communities. Its destruction or illicit removal represents an irreversible loss, not only for the country concerned, but for humanity as a whole. Illicit trafficking also extends well beyond the cultural sphere. It can feed organized crime and in situations of conflict and instability, contribute to the financing of terrorist groups. The protection of cultural heritage is therefore not simply a cultural responsibility. It is also a matter of international law, international security, and international cooperation. Greece has consistently sought to advance this broader understanding through its engagement with the United Nations, UNESCO, and other relevant international European fora. As a country with an exceptional cultural heritage and with considerable experience in confronting the consequences of looting and illicit trafficking, Greece has a particular responsibility to contribute to strengthening the international framework in this field. For us, this work is about more than the adoption of successive resolutions. It reflects our conviction that the international community must continue to create the conditions for the return of cultural property to its legitimate owners, while promoting dialogue, cooperation, and mutual understanding between states. Our cooperation with Italy provides a meaningful example. The return of the Phangan fragment to Greece demonstrates how institutional dialogue, mutual respect, and a shared sense of responsibility can complement formal legal mechanisms. It shows that cultural heritage, even where difficult and sensitive questions are involved, can become a bridge between countries rather than a source of division. Today's challenges call for cooperation across a much wider range of actors, from law enforcement and customs authorities to museums, researchers, international organizations, and responsible market actors. We must also make full use of technologies. What we need, therefore, is an integrated approach, international law backed by effective enforcement. prevention accompanied by restitution, and legal mechanisms reinforced by dialogue, cultural diplomacy, and practical cooperation. It is in this spirit that Greece and Italy, in cooperation with the European Public Law Organization, have launched today's initiative. We wish to place our experience at the disposal of the international community, but equally to learn from the experience of others. Today's discussion is an important step in that direction, bringing together different perspectives to identify opportunities for more effective cooperation. Let us work together to ensure that cultural heritage is protected, not merely as a legacy of our past, but as a living foundation for identity, dialogue, mutual understanding and peace, one that continues to build bridges across generations and cultures. Thank you.

Thank you. I will now yield the floor to His Excellency Mr. Edmondo Cirielli, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

Thank you, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. Italy is proud of co-hosting this event with Greece and EPLO. I thank in particular my colleague, Vice Minister Papadopoulos. I recall with great pleasure our recent meeting on the occasion of your visit in Rome. Dear friends, the United Nations represents the natural framework to address a crucial topic such as the protection of cultural heritage. Still today, the 1970 UNESCO Convention remains a cornerstone of international efforts against the illicit transfer of cultural property. Furthermore, Italy and Greece are linked by a century of history, cultural exchange, and shared heritage. Both Italy and Greece have experienced and the consequences of looting, illicit excavation, and the unlawful removal of cultural property. This shared experience gives our countries a particular responsibility and a strong basis for working together. Unfortunately, nowadays, this phenomenon affects not only individual states, but the cultural identity of humanity as a whole. The fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property is a long-standing priority for Italy, combining legal instruments, law enforcement, international cooperation, and cultural diplomacy. For instance, the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, established in 1969, was the first police unit in the world specifically established to protect cultural heritage. As Director Gujral of ICRW knows very well, the protection of cultural heritage is also a key pillar to our development cooperation policy. Just last week, me and Director Gujral were in Yerevan, Armenia, to work on a new project in this sector. Dear friends, no country, no institution can succeed alone in this effort. Effective action require teamwork. It requires cooperation among cultural authorities, law enforcement, customs, museums, international organization, and diplomacy. For instance, on the sensitive issue of restitution, restitution is not only a legal matter, but also an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and trust between states through cultural diplomacy. Cooperation among states, UNESCO, international and national actors is essential. Italy and Greece can continue to use their shared experience to promote a more integrated international approach with the support of specialized agencies such as EPLO. I'm sure that forthcoming international conference on cultural property to be organized next year in Rome by our Minister of Culture will provide further opportunities to develop this dialogue. Thank you very much.

Thank you. It is my pleasure to give the floor to Her Excellency Dr. Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture of Greece.

Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished representatives, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to join you today to discuss one of the most pressing challenges facing cultural heritage worldwide. I would like to thank the permanent missions and the ministries of foreign affairs of Greece and Italy, as well as the European Public Law Organization for bringing us together to address an issue that concerns the safeguarding of culture and the collective memory of peoples. while also touching upon fundamental questions of international law, security, and justice. The deliberate destruction of monuments, the looting of archaeological sites and museums, and the illicit trafficking of cultural property are not isolated malicious acts offending individual objects. They deprive communities of evidence of their history and of part of their collective memory and identity. They destroy archaeological context and the knowledge essential to historical interpretation and understanding. Illicit trafficking and trade in antiquities and other cultural property represent the most widespread form of threat to cultural heritage, both in times of peace and during armed conflict. The international community is increasingly recognizing that this is not simply a form of criminal activity. but a complex of highly networked enterprise of global organized crime with multiple consequences and ramifications capable of resisting coordinated international efforts. It sustains transnational criminal networks and particularly situation of armed conflict often contributes to the financing of armed and terrorist groups. Protecting cultural heritage is therefore directly connected, safeguarding international legality and security, defending the rule of law, and upholding the fundamental principles and values upon which international peace and cooperation are built. Over the past decades, the international community has developed an important body of legal instruments to confront threats to cultural property of national and universal significance. The more recently United Nations General Assembly Resolution 79/133, adopted without a vote in December 2024, reaffirmed the importance of the return and restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin and called for stronger international cooperation in this field. Yet, experience also teaches us that law cannot operate on its own. Effective protection requires broad and multi-level synergies and operational cooperation among cultural authorities, police, customs, and judicial services. It requires provenance research, reliable documentation, and the responsible engagement of museums, collectors, dealers, and auction houses. It requires the rapid exchange of information across borders and close cooperation with UNESCO, Interpol, Europol, Eurojust, and other international organizations. and it centrally requires us to harness new technologies, interoperable databases, digital monitoring tools, and artificial intelligence, responsibly and effectively in support of human expertise and institutional accountability. Greece has consistently placed the fight against illicit trafficking and the repatriation of unlawfully exported cultural property among the highest priorities of its cultural policy. This policy is systematic, dynamic, and multidimensional. Our national institutional framework is among the most comprehensive, robust, and stringent in the world, while Greece has also ratified and incorporated the international conventions and recommendations for the protection of cultural heritage. Our experience demonstrates that tangible results are achieved through meticulous research, systematic legal action, persistent diplomatic engagement, and above all, international partnership built on trust. Greece actively contributes to shaping international policy for the prevention and combating the illicit trafficking in cultural property through its participation in international fora, the transfer of expertise and good practices, and the development of bilateral and multilateral synergies aimed at preventing and addressing the problem. These synergies open new paths and generate knowledge, new tools and practices that are gradually being adopted by an increasing number of countries around the world. The adoption of the Red List, which raises awareness and provides police and customs officials, as well as the wider public, with information on specific categories of cultural properties most frequently targeted by illicit trafficking, is a characteristic example. Greece was indeed the first country in the European Union to have its own such list. The consecutive successes in securing the return of Greek antiquities from abroad in recent years through cooperation with authorities and cultural institutions in numerous countries, and particularly in the United States, confirm in practice that trust and cooperation are effective. It is equally important, however, that these principles should not be applied unilaterally, but in every direction. Last June, Greece returned to Egypt six cultural objects identified as having been illicitly trafficked, putting into practice the principles of 1970 UNESCO Convention. These specific objects may not have been of exceptional artistic or historical significance, but the broader principle carries far greater weight. The return and restitution of cultural property can only be credible when they rest upon reciprocity, consistency, and mutual respect. This brings me to another dimension, which in my view is fundamental, cultural diplomacy. Return and restitution should not be regarded merely as the conclusion of a dispute. They have the potential to become the starting point of a renewed and elevated relationship. They can build trust between states and institutions. Open new avenues for cooperation through joint research, the exchange of knowledge and expertise, the exhibition and transform an unresolved legacy of the past into an opportunity for partnership and shared path towards the future. Greece and Italy have demonstrated precisely this through the permanent return of the fagot fragment belonging to the Parthenon from Palermo to Athens, as the Deputy Minister Papadopoulou has already mentioned. The decision was the outcome of dialogue conducted in the spirit of goodwill among cultural institutions and public authorities, and was accompanied by deeper, more substantial, and mutually beneficial cultural cooperation between our countries. It demonstrated that the possibilities afforded by law, institutional responsibility, and political will can converge to produce an outcome far greater than the sum of its individual components. And this leads us naturally to an issue of profound importance for Greece and for universal cultural significance, the unification of the Parthenon sculptures. The case of the Parthenon sculptures belong to a fully documented historical and legal context. At the same time, however, it highlights a broader principle that lies at the heart of our discussion today. Disputes concerning the return or restitution of cultural property cannot be resolved solely by looking backwards at the circumstances and the terms under which the objects were removed. They also require us to consider the integrity and authenticity of monuments, the intrinsic relationship between cultural objects and their physical and conceptual context, contemporary scientific principles, and the ethical responsibilities of our time, and of course, the possibilities and opportunities created by cultural diplomacy. The Parthenon sculptures were conceived and created as integral parts of a single architectural, artistic, and conceptual whole. Their unification in Athens is therefore for Greece not simply a question of ownership of individuals' objects. It is a question of restoring the integrity of a unique monument of the world cultural heritage. It is also a question of ethics, of science, and of politics. UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee has provided the forum and institutional framework for constructive dialogue conducted in good faith between Greece and the United Kingdom with a view to seeking a fair and mutually agreed solution to this longstanding issue. The Fayoum fragment has already been demonstrated that such solutions are possible. Ladies and gentlemen, cultural heritage has the power to connect generations, communities, and nations. Our responsibility is to ensure that it is not transformed into the proceeds of crime, casualty of conflict, or a source of division, but remains a foundation of knowledge, dialogue, and mutual understanding. This is a responsibility that Greece and Italy wish to advance together. It is a belief and a possibility that the international community must continue to embrace collectively. Thank you.

Now I invite you to watch a video message that His Excellency Mr. Nayef Al Fayez, UNESCO Assistant Director General for Culture, has kindly shared with us.

Greetings from UNESCO. Excellencies, distinguished representatives, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to begin by warmly thanking the Permanent Missions of Greece and Italy for bringing us together today. As the illicit trafficking of cultural properties has become increasingly sophisticated and international, we must recognize that these challenges cannot be addressed by a country or institution alone. This is why international cooperation remains at the heart of UNESCO action. UNESCO works closely with Interpol, the World Customs Organization, UNODC, UNITWA and ICOM, as well as with specialized police units, museums and the art market. The UNESCO 1970 Convention remains the cornerstone of the international legal framework for combating the illicit trafficking of cultural properties. More than 55 years after its adoption, the Convention has now reached 150 state parties. Together, we strengthen national legislation and inventories. Together, we improve prevention. And together, we build the capacity of customs officers, police, and museums professionals. The convention is complemented by the ICP-RCP, which provides a framework for cases of return and restitution, offering states a space for dialogue and cooperation. For many years, discussions around return and restitution have focused on challenges such as differences between legal systems, limitation of period, and incomplete documentation. While those difficulties remain, we are also seeing a greater willingness to cooperate and explore different forms of cooperation. One example is UNESCO's dialogue on new forms of agreements and cooperation. As digital platforms transform the way cultural objects are traded, UNESCO has brought together digital platforms, member states, law enforcement authorities, and other partners to make technology part of our solution. Through the UNESCO Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects, we are also bringing stolen cultural objects back into public view, creating another space for international cooperation. Ladies and gentlemen, these are difficult questions, touching on law, history, and identity. But culture has the power to create space for dialogue where dialogue is otherwise difficult. This is why, as we look to the future through UNESCO 80, we will continue to bring states, institutions, and experts together.