Islamabad : The Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination successfully organized the National Stocktake on Pakistan’s Climate Journey. The event aimed to showcase the government’s collective efforts and accomplishments in combating climate change over the past year, underscoring the critical importance of ongoing commitment and collaboration in tackling this global challenge. The event was graced by the presence of the Chief Guest, the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, who attended the gathering to exemplify the nation’s unwavering dedication to addressing climate issues and building a sustainable future.
During his remarks, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the gathering represents a crucial step in addressing the most existential challenge to Pakistan’s development and growth – Climate Change. He said, “We cannot afford to be complacent or indifferent to the challenges posed by the polycrisis in front of us. The floods of last year taught us that the consequences of climate change are not some distant, theoretical notion but an urgent and tangible reality. It exposed the vulnerability of our infrastructure, agriculture, and the well-being of our citizens.”
Federal Minister for Climate Change & Environmental Coordination, Senator Sherry Rehman in her keynote speech said, “We stand at the crossroads of history during this crucial decade leading up to 2030. Our people have been uprooted from their homes repeatedly due to the climate carnage, and in many areas, often when we start to rebuild, disaster strikes once more, pushing us into a recovery trap. Climate change has interrupted human history in ways that only World Wars and the nuclear bomb did, bringing the human race and those at the epicentre of the carnage in an arc of extreme vulnerability.”
Minister Rehman said that in a race against time, the government has recently launched the National Adaptation Plan, which needed ownership and inputs from the provinces to actually create the resilience needed at a local level. She emphasised that the implementation of the Plan will pivot on three crucial pillars such as inclusion of local communities at the hearts of our efforts, coordination between federal, provincial, and local levels, and adaptation mainstreaming into the budget and development plans of all ministries
She emphasized that a major challenge to Pakistan’s Roadmap to 2030 is the growing financing gap, and the country needs state-of-the-art projectisation, resources and money to scaffold adaptation and transformational municipal, rural and Agri-water governance for the years of unpredictability ahead. All of which needs time, capacity and liquidity. “There is an immediate need to scale up the climate finance flowing to developing. While we understand that securing domestic financing is crucial, the structural reforms involve pain. Pakistan’s elites are willing to undergo more pain, not its poor, especially for enabling resilience, but some amount of change has to come from the Bretton Woods system meant to lead the world out of egregious inequality and now climate distress as the financing gap continues to grow,” said the Minister.
Minister Rehman shared Pakistan’s expectations from the upcoming COP28 in UAE, stressing three key points that require urgent attention and action. She said, “First and foremost, adaptation needs to be front and centre at COP28, as the billions required have become trillions, mainly because the billions have never materialized. Building adaptation costs four times as much as normal development, but highly climate vulnerable countries receive less than US$1 per person in climate adaptation or disaster risk reduction funding. Second, the world must learn its lessons from the unfulfilled goal of USD100 billion by 2020 to aid developing countries. The Global Goal on Adaptation remains to be fully funded, and we must ensure that the Loss and Damage Fund does not become another under-capitalised ghost fund. Lastly, IFI’s need to vastly expand grant and concessional lending to developing countries and link the distribution of new IMF SDRs to development and climate goals. They should provide portfolio and budgetary support to developing countries, rather than project finance only.”
Minister Rehman said that the summer of 2023 is already showcasing global dispatches from an overheated future. “Earth has passed from a “global warming” phase into an era of “global boiling”. As scientists strive to colonize the red planet Mars, let us not forget that our own home, Earth, could transform into a red planet of its own. The clock is ticking, and multilateralism must not fail those that are in the frontline of the climate crisis. Critical assistance for the most climate vulnerable countries must not further burden the poor, and actions will be as important as pledges and plans at this point. Our people are looking to us with renewed hope for action, and we must not fail them,” the Minister stated.
The Minister thanked the Prime Minister for his exemplary leadership and unwavering support during the past 15 months. She commended his efforts in guiding the nation through the challenges posed by unprecedented climate stress, but also how to think about these issues. She also thanked the Foreign Minister for his outstanding leadership in ensuring that the critical topic of Loss and Damage received due attention and inclusion on the COP27 agenda. She expressed her gratitude to the UN agencies and development partners, including the World Bank and ADB, for their invaluable support and assistance to the government.
In his presentation, the Additional Secretary MoCC&EC, Syed Mujtaba Hussain, underlined Pakistan’s vulnerabilities to climate change and underscored the Ministry’s significant efforts in combating climate stress. He highlighted several crucial policies and initiatives undertaken by the Ministry, including the National Adaptation Plan, National Clean Air Policy, National Hazardous Waste Management Policy, Single-Use Plastic Prohibition Regulations 2023, Living Indus Initiative, Recharge Pakistan, GLOF-II, and Upscaling of Green Pakistan Programme.