ISLAMABAD:Senator Sherry Rehman, the federal minister for climate change, urged the international community to reform the international financial system in order to address climate change adaptation and mitigation on Tuesday.
To make climate finance available to developing countries, she stated that the global financial infrastructure needed to be restructured. These comments were made by the German Federal Minister for Climate Change while she was attending the Petersburg Climate Dialogue. Making the Climate Fund more accessible to developing countries bearing the heaviest burden of environmental degradation is essential, according to Senator Sherry Rehman, given the escalating nature of the climate crisis and the vulnerability of communities affected. She added that obtaining the necessary climate funds to achieve their environmental goals was a challenge for developing nations like Pakistan.
“According to the Standing Committee on Finance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 78 developing countries need $6 trillion by 2030 to meet their financial needs under the Paris Agreement.
Developed countries will receive 52% of climate finance in 2022 while developing countries will receive only 48%,” Sherry Rehman said.
Although 80% of the world’s population belonged to these developing countries, she said, adding, “Worryingly, developing countries, including Pakistan, have limited access to global environmental finance.”
Sherry Rehman said Pakistan needed $348 billion by 2030 to address the challenges of climate change, which was 10.7 per cent of its total GDP. “For us, international climate finance is critical to adaptation and mitigation. Developing countries need access to funds to meet their environmental goals,” she added.
The Minister added that transparency and accountability were also essential in the distribution and use of climate finance.
Climate justice and equitable adaptation and mitigation efforts were central to this conversation, whereas the UN commits developed countries to provide sustainable financial resources to developing countries, Sherry Rehman said.
“We must address important questions regarding the recently created Loss and Damages Fund before COP-28 and close the funding gap in the global financial system. A clear outline for COP 28 should be presented with climate finance and adaptation as the main agenda,” Sherry Rehman said.
She added that it was the collective responsibility of the global community to take necessary steps to ensure a sustainable future and tackle climate change. “It is time to tackle the impacts of climate change together and take steps for a sustainable and inclusive transition,” Sherry Rehman added.
