Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has stressed the need to ensure utilization of Loss and Damage Fund on merit to cope with the challenges of climate change.

In an interview with CNN on the sidelines of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, he said the utilization of the Fund should be ensured on merit without linking it with the development funds and loans from multilateral financial entities.

He said the funding under the Loss and Damage Fund should be additional and tangible.

Highlighting Pakistan’s policy regarding energy transition, the Prime Minister said currently Pakistan’s focus is on transformation from the coal-based power plants to renewable energy projects to contribute towards minimizing the climate change impacts in the region and beyond.

He said world nations including Gulf Cooperation Council countries, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the settled economies and democracies on the Western side can invest in renewable energy projects in Pakistan.

The prime minister pointed out that Pakistan is not primarily responsible for contributing to the climate disaster in which the country’s two provinces Sindh and Balochistan faced historical devastation.

He said everyone knows who have been contributing in last one century so it is more of a question of an honest conversation rather than passing judgment on countries and economies. Therefore, he said, the responsibility shown by the wealthy nations themselves would be a welcome step.

To a question whether the Fund should be operationalized through a United Nation framework, the Prime Minister said initiation is more important rather than talking about the framework.

He said initially it is possible to operationalize it under the World Bank and other multilateral entities.

Source: Radio Pakistan