Pakistan extremely vulnerable to climate change, PM Imran tells world leaders

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that Pakistan was extremely vulnerable to climate change and it was his government’s priority to deal with the impact of natural disasters.

He said this while addressing an informal meeting on Climate Change through video link. The meeting was convened jointly by the British prime minister and the United Nations secretary general on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. Twenty-five heads of state and government were invited for the leaders’ informal gathering.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Imran Khan informed the leaders about the key national initiatives, including the success of flagship 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Project and clean energy target of 60 percent by 2030. He also highlighted that Pakistan had replaced two planned 2600 MW coal power plants with hydropower projects as part of its efforts towards climate sensitive economic growth and development.

The prime minister stressed that developed countries must take lead in raising their climate ambitions, both for emissions reduction and increased financial flows to the developing countries. He emphasized that commitments made under the Paris Agreement must be fully implemented, and expressed concern at the unrealized climate finance pledges by the developed countries. He suggested that initiatives such as debt-for-nature swap would create fiscal space for the developing countries for enhanced climate actions.

In its quest to be a part of solution, Pakistan remains fully committed to playing its leadership role in addressing the global challenge of climate change through cooperative and constructive engagement, he said.

The objective of the meeting was to deliver a shared political understanding and vision on what needs to be delivered in the lead-up to and at the forthcoming Climate Change Conference (COP-26) in Glasgow, to be held in November 2021.