The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said that 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 in collaboration with the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change.
The SAPM highlighted the participation of Pakistan at COP26 and shared that Pakistan is to chair next year’s G-77, giving it the opportunity to flag issues of climate finance as well as loss and damage.
Mr Aslam was of the opinion 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 also enlightened the audience regarding three important achievements of the conference.
First, the increasing and 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.
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.
