PM in Egypt to attend climate change summit

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday arrived here in Egypt to participate in the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit being held on November 7-8.

Senior officers of the government of Egypt and officers of Pakistan Embassy received the prime minister who was accompanied by cabinet members and other senior officials. This summit is taking place as part of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27).

At the invitation of Egyptian Presidency of COP27, the prime minister would also co-chair, along with his Norwegian counterpart, a high-level round-table discussion on ‘Climate Change and the sustainability of vulnerable communities’ on 8th November, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

The prime minister will 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 the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman.

The prime minister is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders on the margins of the summit. COP27 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, the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a related press release.

As a developing country most affected by this phenomenon, Pakistan would 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.

Prior to his departure, the prime minister said that he would urge the world, as Chair of G-77, to deliver on its commitment on climate finance and loss and damage fund.On his Twitter handle, he said without financial support, the developing countries would continue to remain exposed to the multifarious threats of climate change. We are asking for climate justice, he posted.

Extreme climatic events in Pakistan and the Horn of Africa this year had showcased globalisation of climate change, he added. The prime minister further observed that turning a blind eye to the lethal effects of climate change would be criminal.

In another tweet, the prime minister said that their post-disaster needs assessment had shown that Pakistan s journey to recovery and rehabilitation could be held back by public debt, rising international energy, food prices and lack of access to adaption funds. The world should treat Pakistan as a case study, he further stressed.