At COP28, PM Kakar urges developed world to lead climate battle

• PM Kakar delivers national statement at COP28 being held in Dubai.
• Kakar stresses allocation of half of climate finance to adaptation.
• PM says expectations from COP28 were high but not unrealistic. 

DUBAI: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Saturday called upon the developed countries to take the lead in raising global mitigation ambition commensurate with their economic standing and historical responsibility and then 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 while delivering the national statement at the 28th Conference of Parties of the United Nations (COP 28) in Dubai.

Kakar stressed that at least half of climate finance must be allocated to adaptation.

The premier also 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,” PM Kakar added.

The prime minister said the expectations from COP28 were high but not unrealistic hoping that this COP would deliver with action not just words.

He laid emphasis on providing adequate means of implementation including climate finance, capacity-building, and technology, to developing countries to tackle this growing challenge.

PM Kakar highlighted that last year Pakistan suffered super floods while this year would be the world’s hottest year in recorded history.

At COP 26 in Glasgow, he said Pakistan increased its ambitions by presenting the revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) with a target of a 60% overall reduction in projected emissions by 2030.

“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,” the PM said.

“We will also be presenting our first update report during this COP,” he added.

Last year, he said Pakistan led the endeavor to craft an agreement on establishing a global loss and damage fund while 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.”

On the sidelines of the global climate event, PM Kakar had meetings with heads of different states, where he discussed the environmental challenges faced by Pakistan.