Collaborative efforts needed to address climate crisis
“Climate change is a global issue, however, in Pakistan it is evident that climate change is happening now but not a phenomenon that only our future generations will experience,” said Amir Paracha, OICCI President at the 2nd Pakistan Climate Conference on Wednesday.
This is the second consecutive year that the OICCI has organised the Climate Conference with the aim for a better climate action in the country. Despite being responsible for less than one per cent of the world’s planet-warming gases, Pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable nation to the climate crisis.
Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, speaking at the conference, said that in order to address climate-related challenges, Pakistan would require an investment of approximately $340 billion, which is 10 per cent of cumulative GDP. “One of the biggest challenges we have internationally is the issue of trade-off between climate finance and developmental finance.”
Also read: $340b needed to fight climate change
She said that getting money for Pakistan’s climate crisis undercuts other development finance. However, for the first time the Ministry of Finance is partnering with the Ministry of Climate Chanhge and will attend the COP28 together in November and looks towards innovative climate finance mechanisms.
Addressing the Conference via a video link, Energy Minister Muhammad Ali said that Pakistan’s energy transition requires substantial investments by 2040.
Ali added that to achieve this, “We must leverage the capabilities of private sector, especially OICCI as it consists of most advanced global organisations who have the technologies and know how to contribute towards Pakistan’s climate future.”
Speaking on the importance of discourse on climate change impacts, OICCI Secretary General M Abdul Aleem said that the conference highlighted initiatives, projects, and campaigns that show how people from different backgrounds, sectors, and countries are here to work together to address the climate crisis.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2023.