PM Shehbaz Sharif to visit Egypt tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would visit Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to participate in the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit on November 7-8, announced the Foreign Office here Saturday.

The PM will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and cabinet members and senior officials. This summit is taking place as part of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP-27).

“At the invitation of the Egyptian Presidency, the prime minister will also co-chair, along with his Norwegian counterpart, a high-level roundtable discussion on climate change and sustainability of vulnerable communities on November 8,” said the Foreign Office.

The PM would also participate in other high-level events as a speaker, including the UN secretary general’s roundtable to launch the Early Warning Systems for Executive Action Plan, and the Middle East Green Initiative Summit on November 7, being hosted by Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HRH Mohammad bin Salman.

The PM is also scheduled to hold meet several world leaders on the margins of the summit, but as these talks are still being firmed up, the Foreign Office did not name the leaders the prime minister will be meeting.

President Joe Biden and the newly-elected British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are also expected to attend.

“COP-27 is taking place at a time when millions of people in Pakistan and millions more in other parts of the world are facing severe adverse impacts of climate change.

As a developing country most affected by this phenomenon, Pakistan will make a robust call, inter alia, for urgency of climate solidarity and climate justice, based on the established principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,” added the Foreign Office.

In its capacity as the incumbent chair of the Group of 77 & China, which is the largest negotiating bloc of developing countries within the UN system, Pakistan will also lead the group in climate change negotiations including in thematic areas such as climate finance, adaptation, mitigation and capacity building.

The COP is the supreme decision making body under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which meets on an annual basis to review and advance collective efforts to address climate change.

As a main stakeholder, Pakistan would continue to proactively make positive contributions to the global climate change debate, negotiations and collective action.