• Stresses importance of green technology, afforestation in meeting with COP29 president-designate
• Aurangzeb says Pakistan committed to promoting green investment

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday underlined the need for global efforts to address the challenge of climate change by adopting environment-friendly technology, promoting afforestation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Talking to Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources and COP29 president-designate, President Zardari highlighted that global warming and climate change were affecting the glaciers and causing water scarcity.

Mr Zardari said that tackling these challenges required global support to mitigate their adverse impacts.

Azerbaijan will host the 29th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku in November. Mr Babayev, along with a delegation, called on Mr Zardari and invited him to the conference.

Welcoming the minister, President Zardari congratulated Azerbaijan on winning the bid to host COP29 and hoped that the global conference would result in setting the New Collective Quantified Goal on Finance that would help developing countries fulfil their climate finance needs.

He highlighted that Pakistan had planted mangrove forests over hundreds of thousands of hectares that would help protect the environment, besides earning carbon credits for Pakistan.

President Zardari said that Pakistan highly valued its relations with Azerbaijan and wanted to expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of common interest. He called for promoting more interactions, bilateral exchanges and people-to-people contacts to further cement relations between the two brotherly countries.

Mr Babayev also underlined the need to enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly in tourism and culture.

He also delivered the invitation to President Zardari to participate in COP29 in Baku in November 2024.

Green investment opportunities

Meanwhile, highlighting Pakistan’s vulnerability to the diverse effects of climate change, Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb on Friday emphasised the country’s commitment to addressing climate change and promoting green investment opportunities.

He said this while delivering a keynote speech via an online platform at the UK-Pakistan Green Investment Forum, organised by the British High Commission in Pakistan, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Mr Aurangzeb shed light on Pakistan’s disproportionate vulnerability to the devastating impacts of climate change, despite its minimal contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.

He cited a recent World Bank study, estimating potential annual GDP losses of up to 1 per cent due to climate-related risks.

Acknowledging the significant funding gap in adaptation, resilience and mitigation projects, the minister stressed the importance of bridging this divide.

He noted that the changing weather patterns in Pakistan were impacting agricultural yields and posing threats like flooding, storms and heatwaves.

Expressing gratitude to the British High Commission for organising the forum, the minister acknowledged the need for a better portfolio of green investment projects.

He emphasised Pakistan’s reliance on the private sector for support and highlighted the government’s efforts to enhance investor confidence in bankable green opportunities.

The minister also outlined Pakistan’s plans to utilise innovative financing instruments to raise international climate finance.

He said the government was working on issuing domestic green sukuk bonds by December to finance sustainable development projects.

He also elaborated on the significant improvements in various macroeconomic indicators over the past 10 months. He provided an overview of the country’s macroeconomic stability, including improvements in inflation, GDP growth in the agricultural sector, increased forex reserves, upward trend in stock market and the projected reduction of the current account deficit.

The minister also mentioned the successful completion of a nine-month Standby Arrangement with the IMF and expressed the intent to engage with the lender for a medium-term loan programme, which he said demonstrated Pakistan’s resolve to pursue sustained economic growth and stabilisation.

Mr Aurangzeb wanted to hear from investors about the challenges they encounter when investing in Pakistan and reiterated the government’s determination to make the business environment more conducive for international investors.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2024