Sherry says establishment of ‘loss & damage fund’ to restore north-south trust
Zubai Qureshi
In order to acknowledge efforts of the partners for a green transition in Pakistan, Ambassador Jakob Linulf of Denmark hosted a Christmas reception at his residence and reaffirmed his country’s support for Pakistan in combating climate challenges.
The reception titled ‘Green Christmas’ was a small but well-organized event on a chilly evening and the staff of the Danish embassy had made extraordinary efforts to make it warmer and livelier.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman was the Chief Guest on the occasion while two specialists in green energy transition, Regional Energy Counsellor for Asia Assar Qureshi and Special Adviser Denmark Energy Agency (DEA) Nadeem Nawaz were the guests of honor on the occasion.
Ambassador Linulf also introduced Head of Green Growth & Sustainability Maria Ana Petera who has recently joined the embassy at this new position. She is looking for synergies and coordination with the Pakistani government for the purpose of green transition.
Assar is currently posted in Singapore while Nadeem came from Denmark on the invitation of the Danish Embassy to hold meetings with officials in Pakistan to discuss how the country’s targets for green transition could be achieved by making accelerated efforts.
Ambassador of Sweden Henrik Persson, Norwegian envoy Per Albert Ilsaas, Japan’s Wada Mitsuhiro, EU Ambassador Dr Rina Kionka, French Ambassador Nicolas Galey, diplomats, civil society activists, energy experts and media persons attended the Green Christmas event.
Sherry Rehman while acknowledging the contribution and role of Denmark in supporting Pakistan’s stance hailed the hard-fought final agreement at the recently held COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, that sets up a fund to help poor countries battered by climate disasters.
It was though an exhaustive and tense yet very fruitful effort to make the member countries realize how important it was to rebuild the bond of trust broken between the north and the south.
The rich nations recognized it and agreed to support the countries that are most-adversely affected by climate devastation, she said. Pakistan, according to Sherry, was the worst-hit nation as 33 million people are directly hit while infrastructure and healthcare system are in a shambles in the flood-affected areas.
Ambassador Jakob said we must not forget the efforts of all those who have been making efforts to raise awareness about the climate threat to this part of the world. Recently, we have seen melting glaciers, forests catching fires, floods playing havoc with lives and properties.
He also hailed the pivotal agreement reached at the COP27 and said before the summit the prospects were bleak but after the delegates reached an agreement, now there is a hope that we can utilize our resources for a better, more prosperous future for our generation.
