Biggest polluters must pay greater price: PM

He said Pakistan had minimal contribution to global warming but it was one of the most vulnerable to its effects

PARIS:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said that countries with deeper carbon footprints and history of large emissions need to shoulder the greatest burden of climate change as he affirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the development of a responsive global climate change framework.

“Stemming the tide of climate change is a global challenge that requires collective action. Our responsibilities, however, are not evenly spread,” Nawaz said while addressing world leaders at the two-week 21st UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) which kicked-off near the French capital on Monday.



“For the effective implementation of our (Pakistan’s) national programmes, finance, technology transfer, and capacity building remain key enablers.”

Nawaz added that any agreement must be built around a principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” (CBDR) as he pointed out that countries like Pakistan had minimal contribution to global warming but it was one of the most vulnerable to its effects.



As some world leaders pointed towards greater responsibility that lay on developing countries, who were fuelling their fledgling economies by burning coal, Nawaz said the summit’s agreement should take into account the needs of these developing countries and strike a balance between mitigation and adaptation. In this regard, he advocated an effective ‘loss and damage’ mechanism.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st,  2015.