Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called upon the international community to honour its commitment on climate finance, stressing that debt-driven finance cannot address the climate catastrophe confronting vulnerable nations like Pakistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cLoans over loans, [and] adding to loans is not a solution,\u201d the prime minister said while speaking at the Special Climate Event convened by UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres along with the President of Brazil (COP-30 Host) for Member States to present new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with year 2035 targets.<\/p>\n
PM Shehbaz expressed Pakistan\u2019s commitment to be part of the solution to the climate crisis, hoping that the international community would also honour its commitment for the sake of the country\u2019s future generations.<\/p>\n
He reminded delegates that Pakistan was still reeling from the scars of the 2022 floods, which inflicted losses exceeding $30 billion and displaced millions. \u201cThis year, intense monsoon rains, cloudbursts, flash floods and devastating urban flooding have impacted more than five million people, destroyed 4,100 villages, and claimed over 1,000 precious lives,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Highlighting Pakistan\u2019s minimal contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, the prime minister said that despite negligible contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, \u201cWe bear impacts far beyond our share\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, he pointed out that our commitment to delivering on our climate agenda, remained steadfast and unwavering. \u201cIn our 2021 nationally determined contribution, Pakistan committed to an unconditional 15% reduction in projected greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the overall target of cutting emissions by 50%, he shared that Pakistan had already delivered on its unconditional pledge of a 15% reduction. \u201cRenewables are presently providing over 32% of Pakistan\u2019s power mix. Solar energy has grown seven-fold since 2021,\u201d the prime minister added.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he emphasized that 23,000 hectares of mangrove forests had been restored. \u201cHowever, the implementation of Pakistan\u2019s national adaptation plan is hampered and hampered severely due to inadequate international climate finance,\u201d he regretted.<\/p>\n
PM Shehbaz Sharif announced to increase the share of renewables and hydropower to 62% of the country\u2019s energy mix by 2035,<\/p>\n
expanding nuclear energy capacity by 1,200 megawatt by 2030, shifting 30% of transport to cleaner mobility by 2030, and establishing 3,000 charging stations nationwide, scaling up climate\u2019s smart agriculture, safeguarding water security, and advancing the implantation of 1 billion trees.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in his remarks, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that it was still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by century\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
He told the gathering that clean energy was powering jobs, growth and sustainable development besides generating the fastest and cheapest electricity and insulating economies from volatile fossil fuel markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bottom-line: clean is competitive, and climate action is imperative,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n
He said that the Paris Agreement had made a difference as in the last 10 years and \u201cnow, we need new plans for 2035 that go much further, and much faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UN chief stressed that \u201cCOP30 in Brazil must conclude with a credible global response plan to get us on track and \u201cshow a credible path to mobilizing the $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance by 2035, as agreed at COP29 in Baku,\u201d including identifying funding sources, making finance accessible, and ensuring accountability.<\/p>\n
He also underlined that \u201cdeveloping countries that did least to cause the crisis are suffering most,\u201d and called for \u201ceffective debt relief, and scaled-up solutions like debt swaps and disaster pause clauses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called upon the international community to honour its commitment on climate finance, stressing that debt-driven finance cannot address the climate catastrophe confronting vulnerable nations like Pakistan. \u201cLoans over loans, [and] adding to loans is not a solution,\u201d the prime minister said while speaking at the Special Climate Event convened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-504914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n