Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is attending the 29th United Nations climate conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he is expected to advocate for a comprehensive and ambitious approach to issues such as loss and damage, adaptation, mitigation, and implementation. The Prime Minister will also take part in the two-day ‘World Leaders Climate Action Summit,’ addressing the gathering on Wednesday.
Pakistan, listed among the top 10 most climate-vulnerable nations according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021, has been experiencing increasingly severe weather events, including unprecedented floods, heavy monsoon rains, extreme heatwaves, rapid glacial melting, and glacial lake outburst floods.
Upon his arrival at the summit, PM Shehbaz was warmly received by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as reported by state-run Radio Pakistan. The first day of the summit will feature statements from various world leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Tomorrow, alongside PM Shehbaz, other notable speakers will include Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus and Russia’s PM Mikhail Mishustin.
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Pakistan’s participation at COP29 will also see several high-level events and discussions hosted at the Pakistan Pavilion. The country will push for balanced and ambitious progress across all areas, including loss and damage, adaptation, mitigation, and means of implementation. Pakistan will advocate for predictable financing to meet developing countries’ climate goals and emphasize the historical responsibility of developed nations. PM Shehbaz will also call on developed countries to implement deeper emission cuts.
Additionally, the Prime Minister will host a Climate Finance Round Table, focusing on the challenges faced by developing nations like Pakistan, which contribute little to global emissions yet suffer greatly from climate change’s impacts. He will also participate in a high-level event on glacier protection, organized by Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, and engage in separate meetings with the Prime Ministers of Denmark and the Czech Republic.
Pakistan has been severely impacted by climate change, as evidenced by the catastrophic floods of 2022, which resulted in at least 1,700 deaths and affected 33 million people, with $30 billion in damages. Furthermore, a heatwave in June 2024 led to record-high temperatures, further impacting public health and agriculture.
Although many world leaders are attending COP29, some key figures, including US President Joe Biden, China’s President Xi Jinping, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and French President Emmanuel Macron, are absent. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to announce an updated and ambitious climate agenda, aiming for leadership in tackling the climate crisis.
While some challenges have arisen, particularly concerning the official agenda and delayed proceedings, Canada’s environment minister Steven Guilbeault remarked, “It’s not an ideal situation,” but noted that “in 30 years of COP, it’s not the first time that we’ve faced obstacles.” John Podesta, the US climate envoy, is working to assure the international community that climate efforts will continue despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of US leadership on climate action. However, there remain significant divisions over climate finance, which could impact the summit’s negotiations. Fernanda Carvalho, WWF’s global climate and energy policy lead, stated, “Countries are divided. There is a lack of trust,” adding that these issues would be reflected throughout the ongoing negotiations.
