ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Monday praised the adoption of its proposal by the2022 UN Climate Change Conference, COP27 summit, of a funding plan to helpclimate-affected countries cope with surging losses.
Climate negotiators agreed to start discussions on “Matters Relating toFunding Arrangements for Loss and Damage” at the opening session of thesummit on Sunday, said Radio Pakistan.
The agreement to put funding to address “loss and damage” on thenegotiating agenda came amid sustained pressure from Pakistan, which washit by summer floods that covered a third of the country, and othervulnerable nations.
Pakistan had proposed the agenda item on behalf of the Group of 77 andChina during inter-sessional work at Bonn, Germany in June.
“The agenda item on ‘loss and damage’ was the only one out of eightadditional items proposed by various groups, which was adopted byconsensus. All the rest were dropped due to lack of consensus.”
Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, said this was a recognitionof the fact that countries like Pakistan, which confront climate-induceddisasters, should not be left to fend for themselves.
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Unprecedented floods, blamed on climate change, this year killed more than1,700 people and affected 33 million in Pakistan, causing the South Asiancountry more than $30 billion in damages.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also arrived in Egypt on Sunday to attend theCOP27 summit, Pakistan’s foreign office said, seeking “climate justice” forthe South Asian nation.
The summit kicked off Sunday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh aftera year of extreme weather disasters that have fueled calls for wealthyindustrialized nations to compensate poorer countries.
