BAKU, Azerbaijan: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday stressed the need for redefining the global climate finance strategy to effectively meet the needs of climate-vulnerable nations.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made these remarks while speaking at the Climate Finance Roundtable Conference hosted by Pakistan in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on the sidelines of the COP29 Summit. Several global leaders attended the routable conference.
He said Pakistan sought this meeting to foster new thinking to an old problem which is becoming complicated at all climate forums without yielding substantial results.
“We stand at a crucial threshold where global climate finance framework must be redefined to effectively meet the needs of vulnerable nations,” PM Shehbaz said.
He added that financing in the form of loans increases the debt of developing nations and pushes them towards mounting debt traps which he called death traps.
“Debt cannot become the acceptable new normal in climate financing which is why we must resume focus on non-debt financing solutions enabling countries to fund climate initiatives,” the PM said.
He added that despite years of promises and repeated commitments, the gaps are growing, causing barriers to effectively achieving the objectives of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
He noted that developing countries will need an estimated US $ 6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). He urged the donor countries to fulfil their commitments to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change.
“One such commitment is a US $100 bn annual climate pledge, made a decade ago at COP15,” he said.
Shehbaz Sharif stressed the need to resume focus on non-debt financing solutions, enabling countries to fund climate initiatives without additional burden.
He said Pakistan can understand the pain and agony of vulnerable countries as the country has faced two devastating floods and is still recovering from the loss.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif addressing the High-Level Climate Finance Roundtable hosted by Pakistan at COP-29 Climate Action Summit in Baku . #COP29Azerbaijan @CMShehbaz 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/fPxZT8fA7K
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“In 2022, one-third of Pakistan was under water and the country had to repurpose all development and climate funds for financing basic relief and humanitarian efforts,” he said.
He said Pakistan along with many other developing countries calls for a stronger more actable finance mechanism.
Meanwhile Prime Minister addressing a gathering in connection with the steps taken for the protection of glaciers, called for urgent global action and coordinated efforts to prevent the melting of glaciers.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan is ready to work with the international community to protect these natural resources. He added Glacier 2025 initiative provides a unique opportunity to address the issue of melting glaciers.
He added the glaciers are a lifeline for the survival of mankind. Shehbaz Sharif noted that glaciers hold seventy percent of fresh water and protect vital ecosystems.
He said that Pakistan has more than seven thousand glaciers which provides much of the Indus River flow and supports 90 percent of agriculture. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon hosted the event.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister joined the international leaders as they gathered to participate in the opening plenary “World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit” of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).
The Prime Minister is also expected to hold separate meetings with the prime ministers of Denmark and the Czech Republic, who have come to attend COP29. These discussions will not only focus on enhancing bilateral relations but also on shedding light on the climate change risks faced by Pakistan.
