Global fund deal ‘pivotal step’ for climate justice, says Pakistan PM
A historic United Nations deal struck on funding to help vulnerable countries cope with the effects of climate change is a "pivotal step" towards justice, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday.
"The establishment of loss & damage fund at the UN climate summit is the first pivotal step towards the goal of climate justice," Shehbaz tweeted.
Pakistan — the world's fifth largest population — is responsible for only 0.8 per cent of global greenhouse emissions but is one of the countries most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by global warming.
Taking to Twitter, Rehman said that it had been a “long 30-year journey from demand to formation of the loss and damage fund for 134 countries”, the Dawn reported. “We welcome today's announcement and joint text hammered out through many nights. It's an important first step in reaffirming the core principles of #climatejustice.” She went on to say that now that the fund had been established, Pakistan looked forward “to it being operationalised, to actually become a robust body that is able to answer with agility to the needs of the vulnerable, the fragile and those on the frontline of climate disasters”.
“The announcement offers hope to vulnerable communities all over the world who are fighting for their survival from climate stress,” she said.
Rehman also specially thanked PM Shehbaz and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-zardari for “checking in daily after they left Sharm El Sheikh to see where they needed to intervene to help the negotiations”.
“Such solid support kept many of us going just when we thought it's touch and go,” she said. FM Bilawal
also hailed the “monumental achievement” for climate justice as he congratulated the Egyptian leadership on successfully holding the summit.
“Having experienced first-hand the scale and devastation of Pakistan's floods, we travelled to the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for climate justice,” he said in a series of tweets.
“When I chaired Group of 77 at the UN, Pakistan's proposal was unanimously adopted to demand loss and damage be part of COP27 agenda.
“In Egypt, we were happy to report that Pakistan's proposal as G77 chair to include language on loss and damage on the agenda had achieved consensus. Upon conclusion of negotiations, we've sustained that consensus and also included necessary language on fund ND financial arrangement,” he said. — agencies
The establishment of loss & damage fund at the UN climate summit is the first pivotal step towards the goal of climate justice.”
Shehbaz Sharif
Prime Minister of Pakistan