The Vulnerable 20 Group of Finance Ministers (V20) of 58 climate vulnerable economies and the Group of Seven (G7) today officially launched the Global Shield against Climate Risks, an initiative for pre-arranged financial support designed to be quickly deployed in times of climate disasters. Initial contributions include around EUR 170 million from Germany and more than EUR 40 million from other countries. In addition, a broad coalition of countries, multilateral institutions, non-state and private sector partners has underlined their full institutional commitment to Global Shield. The first recipients of Global Shield packages – called Pathfinder countries – include Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Fiji, Ghana, Pakistan, the Philippines and Senegal.