Coming to the climate crisis, he told the UN General Assembly that having suffered USD 34 billion losses due to 2022 floods, Pakistan was again currently dealing with another mega flood, which washed away thousands of villages, killed over a thousand people, displaced millions, and destroyed billions of dollars of crop, livestock and property.
“Our nation stands united in these testing times and we are dealing with this natural calamity with remarkable resilience. I have declared a climate emergency to cope with this challenge. The catastrophic floods of 2022 and 2025 are glaring examples of loss and damage caused due to climate change.”
He said that despite contributing less than 1% of global emissions annually, Pakistan was facing the relentless brunt of climate disasters.
Nevertheless, he said that Pakistan was enhancing its climate resilience and concurrently expanding the use of
clean energy.
However, he urged the developed countries – most responsible for the climate crisis – to deliver on climate finance commitments to support climate actions in developing countries.
He said the developing countries could not afford more debt burden to achieve climate resilience.
“This is not fairness, This is not equality. This is not fair play. This is not justice. How can we expect a country which is a developing country facing flood challenges every year due to climate change and there is no fault of ours… I think borrowing loans would be destroying your economy.”
AGENDA 2023
Prime Minister Shehbaz said that Pakistan was addressing climate change while putting socio-economic development and public welfare on priorities.
Besides the structural economic reforms, modernized taxation, boosted investment, and embraced digitization, AI, and cryptocurrency are among the structural reforms introduced by the government, he added.
He told the UN that Pakistan’s strategic partnership with China, through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, drove the country’s progress. He also commended President Xi’s Global Governance Initiative and other global efforts for promoting just and inclusive development.
PAKISTAN’S ROLE AT UN
Highlighting Pakistan’s role at the UN, the prime minister said that as a non-permanent UN Security Council member, Pakistan actively supported conflict prevention, as shown by the unanimous adoption of Resolution 2788 under its presidency, reinforcing multilateralism and UN Charter principles.
He said that Pakistan would always stand for peace, justice, and development – for a reinvigorated UN, and, for cooperative multilateralism, that was fair and inclusive, and delivered for all.
“Let this 80th anniversary not simply ‘commemorate’ history. Let us ‘make’ history and chart a future – for the next 80 years – with these United Nations, as humanity’s enduring hope for global good. Let us truly strive to become “Better Together,” he concluded.
