In 2023, member countries of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and its V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) unanimously agreed to strengthen the organizational support for the institution by setting in motion the establishment of an independent, stand-alone secretariat that will answer directly to the presidency, Troika, and member nations. This decision to establish an autonomous secretariat that is situated and managed by the Global South aims to place the organization in a better position to optimize the resources raised for the membership, as well as advance the objectives of climate-vulnerable countries.

Recognizing the incubation support efforts of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) in the past, the CVF-V20 is charting a more consolidated and coordinated path ahead with an independent secretariat. The CVF-V20 Secretariat is now based in Accra, Ghana, with a regional office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as well as an office in Washington D.C., USA, to engage the Bretton Woods Initiative.