THE success of Pakistan’s visit to Bonn for the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP23, should be judged not by what the delegates bring to the conference, but by what they bring back from it.

In COP 22 last year, Pakistan submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution document which contained the country’s vision for meeting the goals of greenhouse gas emissions reduction that were decided in Paris.

That document dwelt at length on the infrastructure needs of the country, particularly water and energy, on the growth rates being targeted, and the financial requirements for taking steps to mitigate the impact of climate change and extreme weather events.

The document revealed a greater concern for financial resources and infrastructure requirements than for any climate-related vulnerabilities the country may be facing.

Given how much emphasis the government has put on calculating the finances required for the INDC, there is now the risk that climate policy could become yet another vehicle for attracting foreign inflows rather than engaging in any real capacity building.

The government claims that it needs $40bn by 2030 to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20pc, and another $14bn every year to adapt to climate impacts.

The amounts are impressive, but they should not become the end goal of the exercise. If the government starts to see climate action as just another way of attracting foreign exchange inflows, it would be disastrous.

The minister of climate change has already mentioned that one of the purposes of his ministry is to “secure global funding”. This is a dangerous mindset, which sees only the resources and not the responsibilities.

As a special report in this paper pointed out on Wednesday, the real arena for action on climate change is now the provincial governments.

COP23 is also trying to bring in local governments into the effort, because those centres of government that are closest to the ground are considered by the international community to be best situated to deliver the results needed to build resilience.

But thus far, besides the passage of the Climate Change Act in March, there are few indications that any centre within the government is taking climate change very seriously.

The law created three bodies to deal with climate: a council, an authority and a fund. What output can any of these entities show? How many times have they even met? How well has the government resourced them?

The fact that climate change remains far from the centre of the national conversation is one indication that the newly created entities are not yet effective.

The way things are, Pakistan has a long way to travel before it even realises the challenge. Unfortunately, the consequences of climate change have a far shorter distance to cover before landing on Pakistani shores.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2017