COP 28: Pakistan seeks utilisation of Loss and Damage Fund on merit to curb climate change

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar. — APP  

Interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Thursday called for immediate and merit-based utilisation of the Loss and Damage Fund to cope with the climate change issues.  

At the onset of the COP28 summit, a landmark decision marked the establishment of the fund, with the UAE committing $100 million to aid developing and vulnerable nations grappling with climate change-induced natural disasters.

In an interview with CNN on the sidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP28, the prime minister said the utilisation of the fund should not be linked to the development funds and loans from multilateral financial entities, but the funding should be additional and tangible.

Currently, Pakistan’s focus is on transformation from coal-based power plants to renewable energy projects to contribute towards minimising the climate change impacts in the region and beyond.

“This is the area which could attract the interest of countries here in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the settled economies and democracies on the Western side, so it is an opportunity for all of them and all of us,” the premier added.

PM Kakar said that climate change was no longer a fashionable point to discuss as it hit Pakistan very hard last year. He pointed out that Pakistan was not primarily responsible for contributing to the climate disaster in which the country’s two provinces Sindh and Balochistan faced historical devastation.

“Everyone knows who has been contributing in the last century so it is more of a question of an honest conversation rather than passing judgment on countries and economies,” he remarked.

Therefore, he said, the responsibility shown by the wealthy nations themselves would be a welcome step.

Responding to a question, the premier said: “If we wait for a UN framework it will take years of years. Therefore, initially, it is possible to operationalize it under the World Bank and other multilateral entities.”