PM Shehbaz Sharif calls for honouring financial pledges against climate change

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called on the global community to honour its financial pledges to deal with the issue of climate change.

Addressing Climate Action Summit COP-29 in Baku today, he regretted that the financial commitments made at previous summits have yet to be fulfilled.

The premier said that climate finance must be grant based and not add to the debt burden of vulnerable developing countries. Shehbaz Sharif stressed that without climate justice, there can be no real resilience.

Highlighting the devastation caused by the 2022 floods in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehabz Sharif pointed out that Pakistan is one of the countries that contributes less than half a percent of global emissions, yet it remains vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Read more: PM Shehbaz urges stronger climate finance mechanism

Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan is a resilient, hardworking and responsible nation, and that it is fully committed to be part of global climate solutions.

He said his government has taken concrete actions to deliver on its commitment of producing sixty per cent of all energy from clean sources and shifting of thirty percent of its vehicles to EVs by the end of this decade.

PM Shehbaz said that despite repeated commitments, the gaps are growing in quantum leaps, leading to egregious barriers in achieving the objective of UN framework on Climate Change.

PM Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan is to go through a renewable energy revolution. Last year, Pakistan presented a comprehensive national adaptation plan and this year, it has developed a national carbon market framework.

He however emphasized that Pakistan needs international support to deliver on its climate ambitions.