BERLIN: Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Senator Sherry Rehman held a bilateral meeting with a delegation from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), led by Federal Minister Svenja Schulze, at the sidelines of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue happening in Berlin, Germany.

During the meeting, the two sides engaged in discussions aimed at exploring and enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries on climate adaptation and mitigation measures, a news release said.

The focus of the meeting was on three main areas: better protection against flooding, enhancing Pakistan’s renewable energy infrastructure, and expanding social safety support programmes to assist vulnerable communities facing climate shocks.

Federal Minister Schulze pledged Germany would provide Pakistan with €120 million in assistance to support these initiatives.

Ms Rehman expressed her gratitude to Germany for supporting Pakistan through the Climate Energy initiative. This initiative has supported a range of activities, including climate risk assessments, sub-national climate risk profiling, mainstreaming climate education into higher education, and capacity building for finance mobilisation.

Minister Schulze emphasised the importance of continuing to mobilise resources for preventive and corrective measures, as well as improving Pakistan’s capacity for climate mitigation and adaptation.

She highlighted that while technical solutions were critical for mitigating climate change, it was equally important to prepare societies to better cope with extreme weather in the future by incorporating social solutions into the system.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2023