Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Tuesday said even though COP26 had achieved an international consensus, it was a weak one, as it did not make the countries agree to stronger commitments.
He was addressing a conference titled ‘Post COP26: From Paris to Glasgow’ organized by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) in collaboration with the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC) at Islamabad on Tuesday. Aslam highlighted the participation of Pakistan at COP26 and shared that Pakistan was to chair the next year’s G-77, giving it an opportunity to flag issues of climate finance as well as loss and damage.
He opined that the last-minute Indian proposal for the COP26 final document related to phasing down of coal instead of phasing it out made it appear as insensitive to climate mitigation. President IRS Ambassador Nadeem Riyaz in his welcome remarks shared the overall objective of hosting the event and summarized the issues and expectations from COP26 with special focus on threats and challenges facing Pakistan.
Andreas Ferrarese, Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan, also enlightened the audience on three important achievements of the conference. First, the increasing role of non-state actors, which he appreciated for achieving effective results; second, major collaborations between public and private sectors; and third, greater inclusion of young people in the debate with regard to climate change.
The conference also featured a panel discussion moderated by Ms Aisha Khan, the CEO of CSCCC.
The panel discussion featured eminent speakers including the Deputy Head of Mission of France Mr. Yves Manville, Member of the National Assembly Ms Romina Khurshid Alam, Country Director of World Bank Mr Najy Benhassine, and Executive Director of SDPI Mr Abid Suleri.
All the speakers highlighted climate change as a collective issue concerning the globe requiring international collaboration and joint strategies instead of single country approaches.
The speakers also highlighted the role that could be played by the developed nations in providing funding and other assistance to the developing nations. They were of the view that such assistance was also essential because the developed world was largely responsible for the damage caused and thus the responsibility for rectifying the damage rested more on them.
Ms Alam focused on the role of parliamentarians in the process of making inclusive bodies on climate change.
She also highlighted the need for watchdogs and pressure groups that would monitor the progress of developed nations in providing funding and keeping up with the carbon cuts. Najy Benhassine listed the efforts of the World Bank for regulating public transport and curbing vehicle emissions in order to live up to the methane pledge.
In his closing remarks, Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel remarked that climate change was a top global concern and was likely to remain so.
He also stressed the spirit of multilateralism and advocated it to curb the effects of climate change and reduce its disastrous effects. The conference was attended by a large number of participants from academia, civil society, serving and retired diplomats, NGOs, representative from different think tanks and relevant stake holders.
COP26 is the 26th iteration of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This annual meeting brings together the 197 members of the convention to take concerted action on climate change.
