As finance remains modest and climate-induced disasters wreak havoc across the globe, Pakistan, like the rest of the Global South, struggles to stay afloat, making do with whatever scant resources it has to take on mitigation and adaptation projects.

Despite the urgency and severity of climate disasters, progress on climate action moved at a snail’s pace at the national and global levels. The flagship United Nations conference, COP29, in Baku, fell victim to the cynicism and self-righteousness of the Global North, and the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) of $0.3 trillion was short of a conservative estimate of $1tr required for effective climate action.

The duplicity of these talks was aptly portrayed by Danish artist Jens Galschiot through his sculpture of Justitia, the Western goddess of justice. The sculpture, a highlight of the conference, showed Justitia sitting on top of a scrawny person with eyes closed and scales in hand. “I am sitting on the back of a man. He is sinking under my burden. I will do anything to help him. Except for stepping down from his back,” she proclaimed.

‘Damning indictment’

Climate activist Harjeet Singh, who is also the global engagement director for the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, said the failure of COP29 in Baku to secure sufficient climate finance for developing nations “is a damning indictment of multilateralism at a moment when global cooperation is essential to combating the climate crisis”. According to Mr Singh, countries like Pakistan are on the frontlines — facing escalating climate disasters while being left without the resources needed to transition away from fossil fuels.

After an underwhelming COP29, Pakistan is focusing on launching carbon markets, engaging with other vulnerable nations and unifying the public and private sectors

Similar concerns are echoed by Dr Abid Suleri, who heads the Sustainable Policy Development Institute in Islamabad. He said the modest NCQG posed challenges for Pakistan in its pursuit of climate resilience, especially when the country requires $0.38tr to become climate resilient.

Though it struggles to find money for climate projects, Pakistan has a few locally- and globally-funded climate projects under its belt, particularly the $77 million ‘Recharge Pakistan’ initiative, for which $66m has come from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This project, launched in 2023, aims to enhance the country’s resilience by improving water systems by focusing on ecosystem-based adaptation to manage floods and droughts, directly benefiting over 0.68m people and indirectly impacting over 7m, according to Dr Suleri.

Islamabad-based climate expert Imran Khalid told Dawn that several projects focused on nature-based solutions, particularly from the perspective of water management, were underway or would commence in the coming months. “They pertain to addressing flood risk, local-level water management, water governance and policy and climate adaptation. These projects are by and large funded by international donors, such as FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office], AusAid, and USAID,” Mr Khalid said.

Another initiative pertains to the Dasu Hydropower Project, which attracted $1 billion from the World Bank in June this year. Meanwhile, GCF has pledged $15m to Pakistani venture capital firm Sarmayacar to support start-ups addressing climate change impacts.

Climate Vision 2025

Speaking to Dawn, the prime minister’s Climate Change Coordinator, Romina Khurshid Alam, said the ministry was working on proposals to review the 2017 climate change law to assess what parts of the legislation needed to be upgraded.

She also mentioned her plans for ‘2025 Climate Vision’ — a five-year plan which envisages effective engagements with the private sector for climate action and aims to introduce technological solutions, such as climate-smart agriculture, to address this problem.

Pakistan is also planning to host a conference of Vulnerable 20 in the next few months to bring developing countries together for a joint climate strategy instead of only looking towards the Global North for assistance, she said, adding that Pakistan hopes to emerge as a global leader, particularly in climate justice.

Road to Belem

Next year, before heading to COP30 in Belem, Pakistan, like the rest of the world, will also need to submit its fresh nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — a five-year plan outlining climate action. At present, Pakistan is taking stock of its progress on previous NDCs (2021-25).

About the NDCs, Ms Alam said provinces would have their own targets based on their ground realities, but the Centre will provide technical support through task forces and advisory committees to help them in their NDC target, such in finance and reporting. An effective monitoring mechanism to monitor the progress and challenges to the implementation of NDCs is also on the cards, as per the PM’s aide.

Dr Suleri highlighted the potential of carbon markets’ integration in NDCs to reduce emissions by capitalising on renewable energy projects under compliance markets and nature-based solutions, like reforestation and generating voluntary credits.

By the end of this year, Pakistan is expected to formally launch its carbon markets, operationalised under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This initiative will provide Pakistan with a framework for trading carbon credits.

Though the carbon markets will help Pakistan to some extent to plug its climate finance gap, there are still policy flaws in the government’s approach toward the climate crisis. Mr Khalid said an across-the-board approach to address climate change was essential to holistically address this matter.

“All development initiatives need to inculcate climate change in their implementation frameworks to identify policy gaps,” he said, “Without this, we’ll be just guessing and relying on ad-hoc strategies, which do not make for good climate decision-making.”

Against this backdrop, Dr Suleri suggested a way forward for Pakistan by roping in the private sector and bilateral partners, as well as utilising innovative financing mechanisms to advance climate action. The key lies in leveraging every available opportunity to address both immediate and long-term climate challenges, he added.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 30th, 2024