“The road ahead is clear and simple: climate finance must be inexpensive, adaptable, and easy to access during emergencies,” said the climate change minister.
During a presentation on climate change on Tuesday at the Austrian World Summit 2023, the climate change minister said that Pakistan has been fighting since last year “to prevent the vulnerable from succumbing to the burdens of both accumulated debt and the losses inflicted by the climate stress.”
Speaking virtually at the Austrian World Summit 2023 during a panel discussion titled “We Have the Power to Reach Our Climate Targets,” the minister stated that climate change is not just a threat multiplier but an existential threat that demands everyone work together to reduce emissions and mitigate the effects. Vulnerability in such circumstances can be the equivalent of a death sentence for those who reside in its arcs.”
Regarding the effects of climate change in Pakistan, she said, “We are in a race against time, a race for survival. It is altering how we produce, manufacture, and grow things as well as how we consume everything because it will have a significant impact on our future. Protecting our people has become a top priority after we witnessed nearly a third of our country flooded.”
The mega-floods of 2022 have shifted our focus towards prioritising adaptation, the minister said, adding that Pakistan is “literally the poster child of climate stress.” The ability of vulnerable nations to adapt to the exogenous shocks and rising unpredictability brought on by climate change is essential.
The international community must provide the necessary funding to rebuild and ensure the resilience of communities in the most vulnerable countries to climate change.
“The road ahead is clear and simple: climate finance must be inexpensive, adaptable, and easy to access during emergencies,” said the minister, adding that opening up climate finance was crucial for promoting resilience in countries at risk from climate change.
Minister argues that,” the global loss, damage fund and the adaptation fund must be understood in order to ensure their effectiveness. The adaptation fund has been underfunded and ineffective, while the loss and damage fund has restored faith in the multilateral process of climate change conferences. We must ensure that the loss and damage fund does not become a ghost fund.”