Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has made a strong case for climate-vulnerable nations, arguing that the global financial system continues to disadvantage countries already facing the economic fallout of climate change.

Mottley made the argument while addressing the United Nations General Assembly, highlighting the mounting cost of accessing finance for vulnerable developing countries.

She said climate-vulnerable countries could face an annual financing shortfall of about US$400 billion by 2030, requiring some US$490 billion in annual financing compared with current flows of just US$9 billion.

She also pointed to the additional burden created by higher borrowing costs, estimating that vulnerable countries pay about US$62 billion more each year in excess interest because of their exposure to climate shocks.

“As young people in Barbados would say, the math simply ain’t mathing,” she told global leaders.

Mottley said the situation underscored the need for changes to the international financial architecture and greater access to affordable, long-term financing.

She highlighted the Vulnerability to Viability Compact, developed with the OPEC Fund for International Development and involving 74 countries and 16 development finance institutions.

She also pointed to the Lifeline Fund, which she said would soon provide rapid liquidity when climate shocks create balance-of-payments pressures.

Mottley maintained that such initiatives, while important, cannot alone resolve deeper structural problems.

She reiterated the Bridgetown Initiative’s call for climate resilience, debt sustainability and affordable financing to be treated as interconnected challenges facing vulnerable nations.