Pakistan sounds alarm on climate costs, seeks urgent global action

December 11, 2025 (MLN):  Pakistan has stressed its escalating climate vulnerabilities and the urgent need for accelerated adaptation financing, the country outlined its forward-looking climate and economic strategy at the Global Development Finance Conference Momentum 2025 in Riyadh.

The discussion highlighted Pakistan’s struggle with increasingly severe climate shocks and the critical requirement for timely international support, said a press release issued.

The session featured Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Zeina Toukan, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of Jordan, Qahhorzoda Faiziddin, Minister of Finance of Tajikistan and Mr. Serge Ekue, President of the West African Development Bank.

Recalling Pakistan’s recent climate disasters, Senator Aurangzeb pointed to the 2022 floods that caused US$30 billion in losses and the renewed flooding this year, that the rising frequency of such events is expected to reduce GDP growth by about half a percentage point.

He said that while Pakistan’s macroeconomic stability has created buffers for immediate relief efforts, large-scale rehabilitation and reconstruction still depend heavily on external financing.

He highlighted advances such as the AI-enabled early warning system at the National Emergency Center but stressed that domestic resources alone are insufficient to meet adaptation needs.

He referenced the Government’s 10-year, US$20 bn Country Partnership Framework with the World Bank one-third dedicated to climate resilience and urged rapid development of bankable projects to unlock available funding.

Minister Aurangzeb also expressed concern over slow and bureaucratic global climate finance mechanisms, contrasting them with Pakistan’s recent receipt of the first US$200 million tranche from the IMF’s Climate Resilience Fund.

He emphasized that while Pakistan will continue allocating domestic resources, multilateral assistance and private capital remain essential to closing the adaptation funding gap.

On foreign investment, he highlighted strengthened ties with the United States in minerals, mining, AI, blockchain and digital infrastructure.

He described the US$7 bn Reko Diq copper project as transformative for Pakistan’s economic and energy transition, projecting export revenues equivalent to 10% of the current export base in its first commercial year in 2028.

Addressing geopolitical dynamics, the Finance Minister reiterated Pakistan’s “and-and” approach, maintaining strong relations with both the United States and China. He noted that with CPEC’s first phase delivering key infrastructure, CPEC Phase 2.0 will now focus on commercial, business-to-business partnerships.

The session concluded with a shared call for stronger global cooperation, innovative financing tools and collective resilience to support emerging economies facing intensifying climate pressures.

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