By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD (AA) — Pakistan's caretaker prime minister on Saturday called on industrialized countries to fulfill a commitment to provide an annual $100 billion in climate finance to developing nations.
"The provision of sufficient, additional, predictable, ground-based climate finance by developed countries is imperative," Anwaarul Haq Kakar said in Dubai as he addressed the ongoing UN climate summit, commonly known as COP28.
Underlining that the provision of climate finance should not diminish development finance or add to the "already-high debt burden" of developing nations, Kakar said:
"Developed countries must take the lead in raising global mitigation ambition commensurate with their economic standing and historical responsibility and then help developing countries do the same."
Dubai is hosting the two-week UN climate summit, attended by around 70,000 delegates from around the world.
The Pakistani caretaker premier warned of the existential threat that climate change poses for humanity, pointing to the "super-floods" that inundated much of his country last year and forecasts that this year will be the world's hottest in recorded history.
Kakar stressed the need for COP28 to activate the means of implementing climate action through "climate finance, technology transfer, and capacity building for developing countries based on the established principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities."