PM Kakar calls for bridging gap in climate adaptation at COP28

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Saturday called on developed countries to aid developing countries with climate adaptation, particularly through financial and technical support.

Speaking at a roundtable on the Manner of Implementation-Global Stocktake (GST) in Dubai, PM Kakar stressed that the COP28 summit needs to highlight the “enormous gap” between finances mobilised and the needs of developing countries.

He added that developed countries must urgently rectify the shortfalls in their finance commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The creation of a Loss and Damage fund on the first day of the summit —with more than $400 million being secured in pledges— was welcomed by poor nations struggling to cope with natural disasters.

PM Kakar remarked that a critical concern for countries like Pakistan is recurring natural disasters, which need to be addressed by adaptation needs in water, urban resilience, national capital and human health sectors.

“Finance, technology and capacity-building support will always be key for climate adaptation”, he said.

He drew attention to the “yawning gap” between the finances pledged and the financial needs of developing countries, which he said stood at more than $100bn.

“Developing countries are told that their indices are not ambitious enough, but their adaption needs alone are $387bn per year till 2030,” he said.

“Unlocking scaled-up and improved financial support would enable developing countries to contribute to bridging the implementation gaps in their mitigation and adaptation actions,” he said.

“Moving forward, we believe outcomes of the GST are well-timed to guide the critical discussion in 2024 on setting the post-2025 new collective quantified goal on finances commensurate with the needs of developing countries,” he said.

PM Kakar said the GST must strengthen the effectiveness of the technology mechanism in scaling up, developing and transferring proven climate technology, as well as enabling better capacity building for developing countries.

“The need for reform of international financial architecture also requires sharper focus,” he said.

Kakar called upon the United Nations system to provide greater coherence and coordination to assist developing countries with capacity-building support so that they can “develop appropriate instruments and create pipelines of bankable projects … particularly for sustainable infrastructure projects.”

He added that it is about time that the capacities of private sectors were harnessed for climate actions.

“I hope our deliberations here and throughout the [COP28] can result in an ambitious outcome on the means of implementation which is equitable and responsive to the needs of developing countries,” he said.

Kakar reiterates stance on climate adaptation

PM Kakar’s comments at the COP28 summit echoed previous remarks made at the Climate Ambition Summit held in New York this September.

In his remarks, PM Kakar told the international community that the adverse impact of climate change continued to rise in frequency and intensity, disproportionately affecting developing countries.

“Pakistan is a prime example. Despite contributing less than one per cent to global warming, we are among the top ten vulnerable countries. The unprecedented floods of last year illustrated this vulnerability but these may just be the tip of the iceberg unless we arrest this global warming,” he remarked.