How Does the Global Shield Financing Facility Work?
Since its launch in November 2022, the Global Shield Financing Facility (GSFF) has worked towards ensuring that pre-arranged financing can effectively reach and assist the poor and vulnerable following a climate shock.
The GSFF combats the fragmentation of the Crisis and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI)initiatives through active collaboration with diverse stakeholders, promoting efficient resource allocation and a unified global response. Under its first pillar (global engagements), GSFF contributes significantly to closing the protection gap by partnering closely with the Global Shield against Climate Risks (GS), its working groups, in-country processes, and governance bodies. As one of GS's three financing vehicles, GSFF, alongside the Global Shield Solutions Platform and the V20 Joint Multi-Donor Fund, synergizes efforts to enhance global CDRFI effectiveness. GSFF is also strongly mandated to enhance private Capital facilitation in the CDRFI space. GSFF and the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) leverage their strengths, for example, to better address vulnerable countries' needs, particularly in knowledge exchange and capacity building. Capitalizing on its relationship with the IDF, co-chaired by the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank, GSFF strengthens its collaboration with this influential organization.
As an important puzzle piece in the World Bank’s contribution to CDRFI, GSFF works closely with the Risk Finance Umbrella (RFU) Program. This Program focuses on upstream analytical work, policy dialogue, and instrument design, and its outcomes are connected to regional initiatives like the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) and Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility (SEADRIF), which provide sovereign parametric insurance solutions. PCRAFI and SEADRIF multi-donor trust fund donors are exploring closer ties with the RFU Program as part of ongoing World Bank trust fund reforms.