COP29 summit: PM Shehbaz calls for honouring financial pledges on climate change

BAKU: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on the global community to honour its financial pledges made at the previous two United Nations climate summits, COP27 and COP28, to deal with the issue of climate change.

Addressing the ongoing COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, the prime minister stressed that the commitments made by developed countries to support climate action have yet to materialize.

The premier said that nations cannot put up real resilience without climate justice, stressing the need to boost climate funding for developing nations.

He said that Pakistan incurred over $30 billion in damages due to catastrophic flooding in 2022, a consequence of climate change that continues to impact vulnerable countries globally. He emphasized that climate finance must be grant-based and not add to the debt burden of vulnerable developing countries.

In his opening remarks at the Climate Finance Roundtable Conference, organised by Pakistan in Baku, the prime minister highlighted that the developing countries would require an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to fulfill even half of their current climate goals.

“Our commitment to the climate must be accompanied by an equitable mechanism that ensures historic emitters contribute fairly, through financial and technical support to developing countries facing the brunt of climate impacts,” Shehbaz told the roundtable.

The IDC proposal seeks to establish a structured mechanism to track and measure the delivery of climate finance commitments to developing nations. Under the IDC, the emitters would be accountable for fulfilling their commitments to mitigation and adaptation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz said that the IDC framework could be “a defining tool for a fair and effective global response” to climate challenges. “Cooperation and multilateralism are the only paths forward,” he emphasised.

On the sidelines of the global gathering, Shehbaz interacted with several world leaders and exchanged pleasantries with them besides discussing matters of mutual interest. Shehbaz was warmly received at the venue of the summit by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Besides, Shehbaz also had friendly exchanges with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tajikistan President Imomali Rehmon, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.