By Abubakarr Harding
The Coalition of Finance Ministers Member States have endorsed Sierra Leone as an official member bringing together fiscal and economic policymakers from over 80 countries leading the global climate response and securing a just transition towards low-carbon resilient development.
Finance Ministers are aware of the economic consequences of climate change, the risks posed by its mounting impacts on their economies, and the opportunities of climate action, which could unlock $26 trillion globally in investments and create 65 million more jobs through 2030.
They can also promote climate-informed public expenditure using climate fiscal tools such as carbon taxes and emissions trading systems to cut emissions and prioritize low-carbon growth.
The Coalition of Finance Ministers seeks to demonstrate leadership in response to climate change within their national frameworks and competencies.
They also support the Helsinki principles, which are geared towards aligning policies and practices with the Paris Agreement commitments, share experience and expertise with each other to provide mutual encouragement and promote a collective understanding of policies and practices for climate action, work towards measures that result in effective carbon pricing, take climate change into account in macroeconomic policy, fiscal planning, budgeting, public investment management and procurement practices, mobilize private sources of climate finance by facilitating investments and the development of a financial sector which supports climate mitigation and adaptation.
Through active engagement with the Finnish Government and the Global Coalition of Ministers of Finance on Climate Action by the Government of Sierra Leone under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio facilitated by Sierra Leone’s Consulate Planning Office in Finland headed by Mr Sorie Obai Kamara, the Member States have endorsed the membership of Sierra Leone as an official member of the coalition.
Already in Sierra Leone, through the diligent effort of Minister Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, Deputy Bockarie Kalokoh, and Financial Secretary Sahr Lahai Jusu, the Ministry of Finance has established a Climate Finance Unit at the Ministry to enhance the mobilization of climate financing for the Government.
This Unit will facilitate the mainstreaming of climate budgeting as part of the annual budget planning process, mobilize Climate Finance, Green Finance and Disaster-Risk financing, as well as develop the National Climate Finance Strategy and participate in United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other climate finance international convention negotiations.
Mr. Sorie Obai Kamara’s office has a lot more that he is currently bringing to Sierra Leone from Finland but needs the continuous support of the Sierra Leone Government.
