Pledge To Mobilise $100bn For Climate Action In Developing Nations Still Unfulfilled: SDPI

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Deputy Executive Director Dr Shafqat Munir said on Thursday that the Global North had pledged to mobilise US$100 billion for climate action for the developing countries by 2020, but the pledge remains unfulfilled yet

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2023) Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Deputy Executive Director Dr Shafqat Munir said on Thursday that the Global North had pledged to mobilise US$100 billion for climate action for the developing countries by 2020, but the pledge remains unfulfilled yet.

With climate change affecting countries indiscriminately, climate financing from the Global North has become a far-fetched dream. "In this situation, the developing countries must take responsibility of their own future, harness indigenous solutions and mobilize local funding to combat the climate crisis," he stressed.

He expressed these remarks while shedding light on the climate financing issues during a concluding panel discussion here at a local hotel on Thursday. The panel debate was organised by the SDPI, in collaboration with Oxfam Pakistan, on “Increasing Climatic Resilience in Punjab and Launch of Research Studies on Climate Issues."

Discussing national policy instruments on climate action, Dr Shafqat Munir urged that National Adaptation Plan must be referred while PC1 projects are developed for concerted national climate action and bridge the financing gap by leveraging local financing. He further added that the Action Plan identifies financing avenues linking it to the mid-term budgetary framework. Dr Shafqat munir shed light on country's position on climate finance, institutional capacities for climate action, policy frameworks and the loss and damage that has been created at the global level.

He said the crisis of climate change had no boundaries and it impacted all the nations without any distinction. However, the country is lagging in terms of effective implementation of its convincing policy instruments established to cope with the climate disasters.

He also stressed the need to revise the national disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy to set targets and key areas like risk understanding, governance, financing and overall framework for collaboration. Members of the academia, civil society, journalists and business community were in attendance during the discussion.

Meanwhile, the UAE will host the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) from November 30 to December 12, 2023 at Expo City Dubai to unite the world towards agreement on bold, practical and ambitious solutions to the most pressing global challenge of the time.

COP28 is of particular significance as it marks the conclusion of the first Global Stock-take, a comprehensive assessment of the progress made in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Acknowledging that the world is off-track, the COP28-Presidency has said in a statement recently that it will work to keep the 1.5C goal alive and ensure that the world responds to the Stock-take with a clear plan of action, including measures that need to be put in place to bridge the gaps in progress.

Sustainable agriculture will also feature prominently on the agenda at COP28, where participants will seek to spur innovation in how food is grown and produced.

A senior official told APP at SDPI debate today that as the host, the UAE will mobilise action around a “major course correction” to accelerate emissions reductions while ensuring energy security. He highlighted the role of the UAE in building bridges to advance international efforts at COP28, with a special focus on the Global South and countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.