Climate change is a global issue but in Pakistan’s case it is evident that climate change is happening now and not a phenomenon that only our future generations will experience, said Amir Paracha at the 2nd Pakistan Climate Conference.
Despite being responsible for less than 1% of the world’s planet-warming gases.
Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, while addressing the conference, said that to address climate-related challenges, Pakistan would require an investment of approximately 340 Billion dollars, which is 10Pc of cumulative GDP.
“One of the biggest challenges we have internationally is the issue of trade-off between climate finance and developmental finance,” she said.
She said that getting money for Pakistan’s climate crisis undercuts other development finance.
However, for the first time, the Ministry of Finance is partnering with the Ministry of Climate and will attend the COP 28 together in November and look towards innovative climate finance mechanisms.
Last year’s floods that inundated one-third of the country were a stark reminder that Pakistan is paying a hefty price, not only with lives but also destroyed schools, homes and bridges.
To work towards mitigating climate change impacts, the Pakistan Climate Conference 2023 brought together global and local climate change experts, business leaders, policymakers and social change activists under one roof.
In his opening address, Paracha said that as a collective of more than 200 multinational corporations in Pakistan, the OICCI launched the Conference last year with a sense of responsibility and accountability.
“Taking responsibility for our footprint, we are working towards minimizing our environmental mark as much as we can by implementing changes within our own operations and also engaging with other key players in the ecosystem,” he added.
The themes for the Conference were in line with the upcoming COP 28 scheduled to be held in UAE by the end of November. These included but were not limited to Climate Resilience and Capacity Building in Vulnerable Communities, Plastic and Waste Management and Emissions Reduction and Green Energy.
Speaking on the importance of discourse on climate change impacts, OICCI Secretary General M Abdul Aleem said that the Conference highlighted “initiatives, projects, and campaigns that show how people from different backgrounds, sectors, and countries are here to work together to address the climate crisis.”
The 2nd Pakistan Climate Conference 2023 built the dialogues on the foundations laid in first the PCC. The panelists and keynote speakers provided suitable policy directions and shared best practices from leading MNCs in Pakistan, which can help accelerate the nation’s climate-positive journey.
OICCI member companies, including Chevron, Dawlance, InfraZamin, Standard Chartered Bank, Unilever, BASF, Toyota Indus Motors, Nestle and Abbott were key sponsors of the event.
