Pakistan Pressed to Act Before Climate Crisis Deepens

News Desk 

Islamabad: Pakistan must “move beyond rhetoric” and urgently strengthen preparation, coordination, and institutional capacity ahead of the next UN climate summit, Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Finance and Revenue Syed Naveed Qamar said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a post-COP30 seminar titled “Beyond Belém: Pakistan’s Next Climate Action Milestones” organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Qamar stressed that climate change is “a living issue” that the country’s next generation of civil servants must confront.

He said Pakistan’s inability to convert global goodwill into tangible outcomes was rooted in weak preparedness. Referring to the 2022 floods, he noted that despite billions pledged at the Paris Conference convened by the French President, Pakistan secured only one major project — the Sindh Housing Initiative — because its groundwork was completed and the project was transparently monitored through satellite technology.

“Policymakers may identify broad priorities, but implementation rests with civil servants and domestic institutions,” he remarked.

Warning of intensifying climate disasters from South Asia to the United States, Qamar said major economies, after enriching themselves through fossil fuels, were now enforcing restrictions that developing nations like Pakistan could not replicate.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/climate-change-bites-into-soil-health/

“We cannot follow the path others took because the world will not allow it,” he said, urging faster transition toward clean transport, stronger provincial action, and focused preparations for COP31 in Türkiye. “Climate problems are known. Youth must now lead the solutions.”

Minister of State for Climate Change Dr Shezra Mansab Khan Kharal said outcomes of recent COP summits had become “questionable and disappointing” due to vague, non-binding commitments. However, she stressed that Pakistan would continue advancing climate action “within its own capacity, because there is no other choice.”

She said Pakistan’s newly submitted NDC 3.0 was a “strong, powerful document” that improves the country’s standing in UN climate negotiations. Despite spearheading global advocacy for operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund last year, Pakistan “received nothing substantial,” she said. Still, COP30 offered the Global South an opportunity to reclaim leadership following the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Dr Mansab highlighted Pakistan’s presentation of its Climate Prosperity Plan in Belém as a model integrating green growth, resilience, and sustainable development. She cited growing provincial climate actions, widespread rooftop solar adoption, and Pakistan’s emergence as a “poster nation” for renewable energy. A whole-of-nation approach is now needed, she added: “Climate crisis demands that every citizen understands climate action.”

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/punjab-issues-alert-as-fog-fever-hits-cattle/

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri cautioned that Pakistan’s technical ministries — particularly agriculture and food security — remain undervalued despite becoming “the most relevant institutions of the future.” Many senior officers see postings in these ministries as “punishment,” he said, even as climate change turns agriculture, livestock, and food supply chains into existential concerns.

Quoting UNEP’s latest Emissions Gap Report, Dr Suleri said the world is now far off the 1.5°C pathway and that Islamabad’s winter temperatures are already four degrees above historic averages. Rising heat, he warned, poses risks to food security, manufacturing, livestock, and public behaviour. “Heatwaves are causing mood swings and psychological distress; service sectors face rising tempers and public frustration,” he said.

He reminded participants that under the Kyoto Protocol, obligations lay with wealthy nations, but under the Paris Agreement, developing countries like Pakistan must also act while waiting for climate finance that “has not materialized for a decade.” Pakistan, he said, must build domestic best practices, incentivize provinces, and strengthen its global case rather than relying solely on external funding.

Secretary of Climate Change Aisha Humera Chaudhary said COP30 was a diplomatic win for the Global South, which dominated negotiations despite Brazil’s logistical challenges. She said Brazil’s “Murito Concept,” aimed at fostering consensus despite deep divides, revived dialogue between the Global North and South.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/over-30-nations-reject-cop30-draft-over-fossil-fuel-omission/

Chaudhary said Pakistan must now clearly articulate its adaptation needs, noting that two major floods had cost the country 10% of GDP. “Development and adaptation can align, but they are not the same,” she said. Pakistan’s National Adaptation Plan, the Global Adaptation Goal framework, and the global pledge to triple adaptation finance were among its key wins at COP30.

Countries that arrived in Belém with updated NDCs were at an advantage in bilateral negotiations, she added. She said Pakistan must showcase progress on its National Adaptation Plan and National Clean Air Policy at the provincial level, while scaling up youth-led climate startups ahead of COP31.

Opening the session, SDPI Deputy Executive Director Dr Shafqat Munir Ahmed said that if COP30 was the “Nature COP,” Pakistan should work to make COP31 the “Water and Debt COP,” focusing on the Himalayan cryosphere and its central role in Pakistan’s rivers and economy.

With climate-induced disasters accelerating, he stressed that Pakistan must push for a formal global mechanism to protect climate-vulnerable economies from debt traps and unilateral trade measures.