Posted on November, 15 2022

Sharm El Sheikh, 15 November 2022: WWF-Pakistan’s Director General, Hammad Naqi Khan, reiterated the need for the adoption of the Pakistan Climate Crises Charter at a media briefing focusing on loss and damage and lessons from Pakistan during the 27^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27), currently being held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
 
Addressing the media, Khan presented the Pakistan Climate Crises Charter that was drafted in the wake of the 2022 floods in Pakistan. The Charter has been developed in consultation with government and non-government stakeholders including the Ministry of Climate Change, the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, NDRMF, IUCN Pakistan, Population Council, ZiZAK Pvt Ltd, SDPI, PET, Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Hissar Foundation, IWMI, Global Water Partnership, and Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources.
 
Addressing members of the international media, Hammad stated “Pakistan has faced two significant climate induced extreme weather events this year alone in the shape of the prolonged heatwave and the torrential rains that flooded much of Balochistan and Sindh. The Government of Pakistan is rightfully seeking loss and damage financing for the devastation that has been caused to the country in wake of the recent super floods. At the same time, we must also try to fill in the governance gaps and begin to prepare our actors; including federal, provincial and local governments, disaster management agencies, non-profit and non-government entities. This Charter is essentially a step in that direction to consolidate the efforts and resources of all the stakeholders.”
 
The Charter begins by highlighting the loss and damage that is affecting Pakistan and highlights the need to continually work with vulnerable countries in order to meaningfully address the issue of climate finance. The Charter also calls for a nation-wide risk management and vulnerability assessment that could then strengthen the local land use plans and zoning regulations. It emphasizes the development of a functional local government system to facilitate climate adaptation initiatives. The Charter is cognizant of the role different stakeholders, especially local communities, play in preparing for, and responding to, such disasters. As such it calls for an integrated approach in terms of risk perception and risk management with particular focus on nature-based solutions.
 
Pakistan has been vociferously calling for the issue of loss and damage to be taken up during climate negotiations. As the Chair of the G77 plus China, it played an instrumental role in getting the issue on the agenda for COP 27 at Sharm el Sheikh. The G7 countries have launched a new funding initiative at COP called the Global Shield. Pakistan will be amongst the first set of countries to receive the funding to help pay for losses due to climate induced extreme weather events. However, the funding available for the initiative is only around 200 million Euro. Given the impact of the climate crisis across the world this amount will not be enough to address losses and damages in most vulnerable countries. Pakistan can continue to play a leading role in voicing the concerns of the most vulnerable nations and communities in the lead up to COP 28 in United Arab Emirates next year.
 
The Pakistan Climate Crises Charter 2022 is available at the organization’s website: www.wwfpak.org