- Pakistan is the eighth most sensitive country to the climate crisis.
- The minister says that the country is facing a huge fiscal deficit.
- Funds will be raised from capital markets for green financing: Akhtar
KARACHI: Acting Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar has said that Pakistan needs an investment of about $340 billion by 2030, equivalent to 10% of its cumulative gross domestic product (GDP), to tackle the challenges of climate change.
He said countries like Pakistan will have to choose between prioritizing spending on development and climate change. news Reported on Thursday.
Speaking at the 2nd Pakistan Climate Summit organized by the Overseas Chambers of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), he said, “Pakistan will spend Rs 200 billion on climate change impacts by 2030.”
He said that although the intensity of the economic crisis has reduced, the country faces serious climate challenges.
“One of the biggest challenges we face internationally is the issue of trade-offs between climate finance and development finance,” he said. “Pakistan’s funding of the climate crisis dwarfs other development finance.”
However, for the first time the Finance Ministry is partnering with the Climate Ministry and will participate together in COP28 in November, where the ministries will look towards innovative climate finance mechanisms, he said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), like the World Bank, will provide financing to address the challenges of climate change. He said that the country is facing huge fiscal deficit and in this situation, the National Adaptation Plan will help in arranging financing to fight climate change issues.
Dr. Shamshad said that funds will be raised from capital markets for Islamic and green financing and corporate and private sectors will help in this regard.
Energy Minister Muhammad Ali said Pakistan is facing a huge cost of climate change and it is increasing as the country faces serious economic challenges.
Addressing the conference through a video link, the Energy Minister said Pakistan’s energy transition requires substantial investment in energy asset infrastructure by 2040. Ali said that to achieve this, “we must leverage the capabilities of the private sector, especially OICCI as it comprises the most advanced global organizations that have the technology and know-how to contribute to Pakistan’s climate future. “
OICCI President Amir Paracha said climate change is a global issue, but in the case of Pakistan it is clear that climate change is happening now and is not a phenomenon that will be experienced only by our future generations.
This is the second consecutive year that OICCI has organized the climate conference.
Despite being responsible for less than 1% of the world’s planet-warming gases, Pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable country to the climate crisis.
Paracha said that as a group of more than 200 multinational corporations in Pakistan, OICCI had started the conference last year with a sense of responsibility and accountability. “Taking responsibility for our footprint, we are working towards reducing our environmental footprint as much as possible by implementing changes in our own operations and connecting with other key players in the ecosystem,” he said.
Guarantco MD Philip Skinner said there is no longer a distinction between “finance and climate finance”. All financial institutions need to incorporate climate considerations into their decision-making processes.
OICCI Secretary General M Abdul Aleem said the conference highlighted initiatives, projects and campaigns that show how people from different backgrounds, regions and countries are here to work together to tackle the climate crisis.
Emphasizing the need to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, to which Pakistan is a signatory, OICCI Vice President Rehan Shaikh said, “We have a narrow window of opportunity to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and we must There is a need to align our policies and investments with a net-zero future. We need to mobilize more resources and support for our country’s development.”
