Islamabad:Climate change has become a defining threat to Pakistan's economic stability, food and water security, public health and long-term development, said Minister of State for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Khan.
She was delivering the keynote address at a Dialogue on "Climate finance and international cooperation for strengthening climate resilience in Pakistan" organised here by Institute of Regional Studies (IRS).
She also called for enhanced climate finance, technology transfer, stronger institutions and international partnerships to accelerate climate action. She noted that despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan remains among the countries most vulnerable to climate change and stressed that international climate finance must be made more accessible, predictable and responsive to support vulnerable countries.
Dr Samuel Rizk, Resident Representative, UNDP Pakistan, said strengthening governance, institutional capacity and policy coherence is fundamental to building climate resilience. He observed that effective climate finance is measured not only by the volume of resources mobilised but by its accessibility, quality and ability to deliver tangible benefits to vulnerable communities.
Climate change expert Ali Tauqeer Sheikh said Pakistan's principal challenge is not the availability of climate finance but the absence of a coherent governance framework to coordinate and mobilise financial resources. He called for institutional reforms to establish a single coordinating authority for climate finance, greater transparency and accountability through ring-fencing and independent auditing of climate-related funds, and improved access to international climate finance.
Hamza Haroon, Regional Director for West and South Asia, Climate Vulnerable Forum-V20 (CVF-V20), highlighted inequities in the global climate finance architecture and the challenges faced by climate-vulnerable countries in accessing affordable finance.
He called for scaled-up concessional finance, greater mobilisation of private investment, and stronger country-led climate financing mechanisms. Referring to Pakistan's Climate Prosperity Plan, he said it holds potential to attract investment in climate-resilient development and stressed the importance of establishing a national country platform to improve coordination, project implementation and access to international climate finance. Amir Khan Goraya, CEO, National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), underscored the importance of shifting from disaster response to risk-informed investment.
