KARACHI: Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, while addressing the 2nd Pakistan Climate Conference on November 01, said that to address climate-related challenges, Pakistan would require an investment of approximately $340 billion dollars, which is 10 percent of the cumulative GDP.
“One of the biggest challenges we have internationally is the issue of trade-offs between climate finance and developmental finance,” she stated.
She said that getting money for Pakistan’s climate crisis undercuts other development finance. However, for the first time, the Ministry of Finance is partnering with the Ministry of Climate and will attend the COP28 together in November and look towards innovative climate finance mechanisms.
The cost of climate change to Pakistan is substantial and is continuously increasing as the country faces severe economic challenges,” said Minister of Energy Muhammad Ali.
Addressing the Conference via a video link, the energy minister said that Pakistan’s energy transition requires substantial investments in energy assets infrastructure by 2040.
Ali added that to achieve this, “we must leverage the capabilities of the private sector, especially OICCI as it consists of the most advanced global organizations who have the technologies and know how to contribute towards Pakistan’s climate future”.
“There is no longer a distinction between ‘finance’ and ‘climate finance’. All financial institutions need to have climate considerations embedded in their decision-making processes,” said Philip Skinner, MD, GuarantCo.
