Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Saturday called for immediately executing the $100 billion commitments for climate finance to ensure the implementation of climate change actions by developing countries and to mitigate the climate change impacts.
“Such finance should not be at the cost of development finance nor add to the already high debt burden of the developing countries,” he said while delivering National Statement at the 28th Conference of Parties of the United Nations (COP28) in Dubai.
PM Kakar called upon the developed countries to take the lead in raising global mitigation ambition commensurate with their economic standing and historical responsibility and help developing countries do the same.
“We need to achieve global resilience through delivering an ambitious outcome in the form of a framework for global goal on adaptation with clear targets and indicators including regular monitoring of progress,” he said adding that at least half of climate finance must be allocated to adaptation.
The interim PM said the expectations from COP28 were high but not unrealistic hoping that this COP would deliver with action not just words.
He emphasised on providing adequate means of implementation including climate finance, capacity-building, and technology, to developing countries to tackle this growing challenge.
PM Kakar said that Pakistan suffered super floods last year while the ongoing year would be the world’s hottest year in recorded history.
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“This year Pakistan presented a comprehensive national adaptation plan and has also launched an innovative Living Indus Initiative that brings together our care for climate and for nature,” he said adding “We will also be presenting our first update report during this COP”.
Last year, he said Pakistan led the endeavour to craft an agreement on establishing a global loss and damage fund this year. “We worked to activate an adequately financed loss and damage fund and its funding arrangement”.
He said climate justice demanded that the developing countries should be enabled to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) even as they contribute to climate objectives.
“The provision of sufficient additional predictable grant-based climate finance by developed countries is imperative,” he added.
