Pakistan calls for urgent grant-based climate finance at COP30 as losses mount

Pakistan urged the international community to ensure rapid, grant-based and predictable financing for climate-vulnerable developing countries, warning that repeated extreme weather events were deepening debt distress and slowing development progress in nations least responsible for global emissions.

The call was made at a high-level side event titled “Operationalizing Loss and Damage: Financing Resilience and Recovery in Vulnerable Countries” organized jointly by the Climate Change & Environmental Coordination Ministry and UNICEF at the Pakistan Pavilion on the sidelines of the UN climate summit (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.

In her keynote address, Secretary for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Aisha Humera Moriani said Pakistan was investing heavily in strengthening national climate resilience, despite contributing less than one per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions.

She recalled that the devastating floods of 2022 and 2025 displaced millions, destroyed large-scale infrastructure and caused multi-billion-dollar economic losses. “The scale and frequency of such disasters in developing countries underscore the disproportionate climate burden placed on nations that played almost no role in heating the planet,” she remarked.

The event, organised jointly with UNICEF, brought together representatives of the newly created Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), government officials, development partners and experts to discuss practical steps for operationalising the global Loss and Damage architecture.

The panel speakers at the event noted that repeated climate shocks had pushed many vulnerable economies into what they described as a “debt emergency,” forcing them to borrow for recovery and reconstruction in the absence of adequate grant-based support. They stressed that new, additional and concessional financing was essential if Loss and Damage assistance was to be transformative rather than short-term.

They also highlighted that children were bearing the heaviest share of the crisis, with Pakistan having nearly half of its population below the age of 18. She warned that recurring disasters were undermining nutrition, health, schooling and mental wellbeing. “Climate disasters are not only destroying infrastructure, they are also robbing a generation of its right to safety and opportunity,” she said.

The speakers also urged that the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM), including simplified application procedures, faster disbursement mechanisms and flexible financial windows, must be prioritised to ensure timely and equitable financing for countries with limited fiscal room. They also called for mechanisms that could respond effectively to slow-onset threats such as glacial melt, sea level rise and desertification, in addition to sudden disasters.

Ministry spokesperson Muhammad Saleem Shaikh said a major focus of the discussion was directing support towards the most vulnerable segments, particularly children and young people. He noted that non-economic losses, mainly as trauma, cultural disruption, displacement and the breakdown of community structure, remained under-addressed in global policy frameworks.

He added that Pakistan announced its readiness to submit two proposals under the FRLD’s initial funding cycle, aimed at reconstruction of critical social infrastructure and strengthening resilience in key sectors, including agriculture, community systems and water resources. While Pakistan continued to mobilize domestic resources, he said, the scale of loss far outstripped national capacity.

Calling Loss and Damage finance a matter of national survival rather than simply an environmental concern, the ministry reiterated Pakistan’s demand for adherence to the principles of climate justice and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC).

“Climate justice demands immediate access. Our people cannot wait,” the ministerial statement said, urging developed economies and multilateral institutions to move from political commitments to on-ground financial delivery.

Ms Moriani reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to working with the UN, international partners and climate finance bodies to create a fair global framework for climate recovery. She said the aim was to ensure that vulnerable states receive the resources needed to recover, rebuild and thrive in a world experiencing accelerating climate impacts.

“Climate justice demands immediate access. Our people cannot wait,” she stressed, urging international partners to translate political commitments into concrete financial support for the most vulnerable.