ISLAMABAD, (TDI): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday said that developing countries will need an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current nationally determined contributions (NDCs)—the action plans under the Paris Agreement aimed at reducing emissions and adapting to climate change.
Addressing the World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit of COP29 in Baku, Shehbaz Sharif emphasised the urgent financial requirements for the most vulnerable nations, as nearly 200 countries gather to negotiate the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).
This goal aims to raise significant climate finance for regions most affected by climate change, but negotiations have been stalled due to disagreements over the list of contributing nations.
While the United States, European countries, and others have expressed willingness to contribute, they have called for major economies such as China, South Korea, and Singapore to also join the list of contributors. This dispute has created a deadlock, putting the success of the negotiations at risk.
Sharif pointed out that the financial needs of developing countries have only increased after a year of devastating climate-related events.
Pakistan, which ranks as the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, experienced catastrophic floods in 2022 that resulted in more than 1,700 deaths and affected over 33 million people.
The floods caused economic losses of more than $30 billion, and despite international pledges of over $9 billion for recovery, little of the promised funding has been received, according to Pakistani officials.
“Developing countries will require an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current NDCs,” Sharif said.
He urged donor countries to fulfill their long-standing commitment to allocate 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) for development assistance and to ensure that existing climate funds are fully capitalised.
The Prime Minister also drew attention to the shortfall in the $100 billion annual climate finance pledge, which was established at COP15 over a decade ago.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that the fund has reached only $160 billion to date.
However, Sharif pointed out that much of this funding has been dispensed in the form of loans, which further deepen the debt burdens of developing nations and could push them into “debt traps.”
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“Pakistan, along with many other developing nations, calls for stronger and more equitable climate finance mechanisms. Debt should not become the new normal in climate financing,” Sharif emphasized. “We must focus on non-debt financing solutions that enable countries to fund their climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.”
Sharif also called for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to establish a committee that will periodically review the NDCs of all nations.
He stressed the need to double current adaptation financing levels and increase the “loss and damage” funds to support building resilient infrastructure and addressing urgent climate impacts.
At COP29, governments reaffirmed their commitment to the newly established “loss and damage” funds, which was pledged $800 million last year to help poorer nations recover from climate-induced disasters.
The fund is now being managed by a director and host country, with decisions on how the funds will be distributed to be made at the summit, along with calls for additional contributions.
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Additionally, several of the world’s leading multilateral banks, including the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, pledged to increase climate finance to low- and middle-income countries to $120 billion annually by 2030.
This pledge represents a 60% increase over the funding allocated last year by the group of 10 multilateral development banks (MDBs).
A significant portion of this funding—$42 billion—will be allocated to help countries adapt to the impacts of extreme weather events, marking a 70% increase over the 2023 allocation.
The new climate finance targets are part of a broader effort at COP29 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
