Pakistan, US to form joint working group to address climate change

Pakistani prime minister’s special assistant on climate change Malik Amin Aslam (left) elbow bumps with US special envoy for climate change John Kerry (right) in the British capital’s Kew Garden on July 26, 2021. (Photo courtesy: PID)

• Pakistan plans to shift 60 percent energy mix to clean energy, 30 percent of transport toward electric vehicles by 2030
• Germanwatch in January described Pakistan as eighth most vulnerable country to climate change

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States have agreed to form a joint working group to address challenges related to climate change, the Pakistani ministry of climate change said late Monday.
The statement comes after Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam, met US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry in London, where both were attending a Pre-COP26 Ministerial meeting from 25-26 July 2021.
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, scheduled to be held in the city of Glasgow from October 31 to November 12, 2021 under the presidency of the United Kingdom.
Aslam thanked the United States government for reigniting its leadership role on climate change under the Biden administration, and assured that Pakistan believed in a low carbon development pathway and on nature-based solutions to climate change.
“On its part Pakistan is focussed on shifting 60 percent of its energy mix to clean energy by 2030 and for shifting 30 percent of its transport toward electric vehicles by 2030,” the PM’s aide said.
“It will be truly great working with Pakistan to support its green initiatives launched as a part of global climate action and restoration of degraded ecosystems and attainment of overall environmental sustainability and climate resilience,” the statement said, quoting Kerry.
Kerry also “assured Pakistan of full support from United States on climate change including providing access to best available technologies in renewable energy transition, technical support on climate smart agriculture and availability of climate finance.”
A German think tank, Germanwatch, in January this year described Pakistan as the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change, having witnessed 173 extreme weather events and suffered an estimated loss of $3.8 billion as a consequence between 2000 and 2019.