The Manila-Paris Declaration articulated the common concerns and commitments of vulnerable countries and urged the strengthening of the UNFCCC goal of limiting warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The members of the bloc are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

The CVF was founded by the Maldives government before the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which sought to increase awareness of countries considered vulnerable.

The governments issued a declaration expressing alarm at the pace of change and damage as a result of global warming, stating that these conditions are "an existential threat to our nations, our cultures and to our way of life" and "undermine the internationally-protected human rights of our people".

[4] A group of countries which emit small amounts of greenhouse gases enacted the CVF declaration, pledging to lead the world to a low-carbon (and, ultimately, carbon-neutral) economy.

[10][11][12] The CVF Declaration committed to achieve a concentration of no more than 350 ppm (parts per million) of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (or less) above preindustrial levels.

[19] In May 2013 a follow-up statement about the 2010 conference and the agreements reached there was made, indicating disappointment and asking if focusing on two new provisions (greenhouse gas emissions and climate change) would better serve their goals.

[9] Its government hosted a ministerial meeting of the forum on November 13–14, 2011 in Dhaka, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were keynote speakers at its inauguration ceremony.

[6] The Manila-Paris Declaration articulated the common concerns and commitments of vulnerable countries and urged the strengthening of the UNFCCC goal of limiting warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

[25] In 2009, the following countries adopted its first declaration: Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Maldives, Nepal, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Vietnam[26] Two years later, the following countries adopted its second declaration: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

[21] At the Third High Level Meeting of the CVF held during COP21 the membership of the Forum increased to include the following twenty-three new members: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.

The global study covered 184 countries affected by the short-term impacts of climate change in four key areas: health, weather disasters, habitat loss and economic stress.

Its analysis relies on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) greenhouse gas emission projections and studies showing carbon-intensive energy means indicating 10-100 times the level of negative externalities when compared to climate-safe alternatives.