WWF-Pakistan (WWFP) Director General, Hammad Naqi Khan, presented the Pakistan Climate Crises Charter at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, today, and stressed the urgency of its adoption.
Speaking at a media briefing, he focused on the lessons learned from Pakistan’s losses and damages and discussed the charter that was drafted in the wake of the 2022 floods in Pakistan.
The charter was developed in consultation with government and non-government stakeholders, including the Ministry of Climate Change, the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, NDRMF, IUCN Pakistan, Population Council, ZiZAK Pvt Ltd, SDPI, PET, Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Hissar Foundation, IWMI, Global Water Partnership, and Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources.
Khan stated, “Pakistan has faced two significant climate-induced extreme weather events this year alone in the shape of the prolonged heatwave and the torrential rains that flooded much of Balochistan and Sindh. The Government of Pakistan is rightfully seeking loss and damage financing for the devastation that has been caused to the country in wake of the recent super floods”.
“At the same time, we must also try to fill in the governance gaps and begin to prepare our actors; including federal, provincial, and local governments, disaster management agencies, and non-profit and non-government entities. This Charter is essentially a step in that direction to consolidate the efforts and resources of all the stakeholders,” he continued.
The charter begins by highlighting the loss and damage that is affecting Pakistan and highlights the need to continually work with vulnerable countries in order to meaningfully address the issue of climate finance. It also calls for a nationwide risk management and vulnerability assessment that could then strengthen the local land use plans and zoning regulations.
It emphasizes the development of a functional local government system to facilitate climate adaptation initiatives. Furthermore, the charter is cognizant of the role that different stakeholders, especially local communities, play in preparing for and responding to such disasters. As such, it calls for an integrated approach in terms of risk perception and risk management with a particular focus on nature-based solutions.
Pakistan has been vociferous in calling for the issue of loss and damage to be taken up during climate negotiations. As the Chair of the G77 plus China, it played an instrumental role in getting the issue on the agenda for COP 27 at Sharm el Sheikh today.
The G7 countries have launched a new funding initiative at the COP, called the Global Shield, and Pakistan will be among the first set of countries to receive funding to help pay for its losses due to climate-induced extreme weather events. However, the available funding for the initiative is only around 200 million euros. Given the impact of the climate crisis across the world, this amount is insufficient to address Pakistan’s losses and damages in the most vulnerable countries.
Pakistan can continue to play a leading role in voicing the concerns of the most vulnerable nations and communities in the lead-up to COP 28 in the UAE next year.
The Pakistan Climate Crises Charter 2022 is available at the organization’s website www.wwfpak.org.
