Finance ministers from 20 of the countries most vulnerable to climate change launched the V20 group to pool resources for their fight against the impact of global warming. The group includes some of the poorest and least developed nations across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific that are home to approximately 700 million people.

The V20’s members are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, East Timor, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, the Maldives, Nepal, the Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

It pointedly held its inaugural meeting just ahead of a gathering of G20 finance ministers in the Peruvian capital Lima.  The group, which aims to both raise and manage climate funds, agreed to set up a public-private “climate risk pooling mechanism,” a sort of insurance fund for extreme weather events and disasters. Funding for poor and vulnerable nations has been a major sticking point in previous climate talks. The V20’s inaugural chair, Philippine Finance Minister Cesar Purisima, said the cost of falling short would be astronomical.