Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday called for grant-based climate financing for climate-vulnerable countries, urging the global community to turn solidarity into tangible action during climate disasters. "When climate disasters strike, vulnerable countries need timely help and finance that does not deepen their debt," he said while addressing the COP31 Leaders' Summit in Antalya, Turkiye.
The prime minister also called for a significant enhancement of resilience and adaptation funds for climate-vulnerable countries and struggling economies. PM Shehbaz recalled his warning four years ago that the climate disaster in Pakistan would have repercussions beyond the country's borders.
"That warning has become a stark reality. The future we feared has become the present we are living.
Climate change knows no border. No nation can face it alone," he said.
Reflecting on the impact of climate change on Pakistan, the prime minister recalled the country's devastating 2022 floods, which submerged a third of the country and affected millions. He noted that the floods impacted approximately 33 million people across Pakistan, highlighting the country's vulnerability to climate-related disasters.
The prime minister also acknowledged Turkiye's support during the floods, stating it stood shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan. PM Shehbaz emphasized that Pakistan is pursuing environmentally friendly measures, despite being responsible for less than 1% of global carbon emissions.
The two-week COP31 talks kicked off in Turkiye this week, with governments under pressure to tackle climate change following a year of searing heatwaves, wildfires in Europe, and deadly floods in Nepal. A day earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres railed against the oil and gas lobby, telling world leaders that fossil fuels "must go the way of the dinosaurs" at a summit missing several prominent figures.
"The brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us," Guterres told dozens of world leaders assembled in Antalya. However, few major breakthroughs are anticipated at the COP31 negotiations, which run until November 20, as countries grapple with oil price shocks and geopolitical tensions fueled by the US-Iran conflict and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Since agreeing in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels - the main driver of climate change - nations have struggled to advance that goal. At his final COP before stepping down in December, Guterres said governments cannot keep expanding fossil fuel production while claiming to support the fight against climate change.
"Fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs, but that won't happen on its own. The dinosaurs did not have a lobby, but fossil fuels do," he said.
"Their strategy is simple: Distort the science. Delay the accountability.
It's time to kick the habit - and end the fossil fuel addiction," he said to sustained applause.