By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif flew to Turkey on Tuesday to press world leaders for more dependable climate funding for poorer countries, taking Pakistan’s case to the UN’s COP31 summit after two catastrophic floods in four years.
Sharif is due to address the leaders’ summit in Antalya on Wednesday. He is travelling with information minister Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan Peoples Party senator Sherry Rehman and his adviser Tariq Fatemi, the PM Office said. Rehman held the climate change portfolio when the 2022 floods struck.
The foreign ministry said the prime minister would use his speech to argue for a different kind of money. “He will also call for predictable, adequate and accessible climate finance for developing countries to strengthen their resilience and pursue sustainable development,” it said.
He will also set out Pakistan’s rapid expansion of solar and other renewable power, and its work on disaster preparedness and early-warning systems. Sharif will attend a high-level roundtable convened by the COP31 presidency and hold bilateral meetings with Turkish leaders and other heads of government during his visit, which runs from 10 to 12 November.
“Prime Minister’s participation in the COP31 Leaders’ Summit is an expression of Pakistan’s strong support for the climate agenda, and will provide Pakistan with an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment towards working closely with the international community to address the climate crisis,” the Foreign Office said.
Pakistan makes the argument from experience. The 2022 floods affected 33 million people and caused more than $30bn in damage and economic losses, according to a joint assessment by the government and development partners including the World Bank. Severe monsoon flooding in 2025 brought further displacement and billions of dollars in damage, according to a World Bank assessment published this year. The country also faces extreme heat and water insecurity, despite producing only a small share of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The gap between need and delivery is wide. The State Bank of Pakistan estimates the country needs about $331bn in climate financing between 2024 and 2030, but has received only $1.4bn to $2bn a year on average over the past decade. A year ago, less than half of the roughly $11bn pledged after the 2022 floods had reached Pakistan, according to the UN humanitarian office OCHA, citing government data. Islamabad has repeatedly asked wealthier nations for financing that vulnerable economies can use without taking on more debt.
Pakistan does have a seat in one of the summit’s new finance initiatives. It is among the first five pilot countries, with Ethiopia, Fiji, Indonesia and Uzbekistan, chosen for the COP31 presidency’s Climate Implementation Bridge, which aims to turn climate commitments into finance-ready projects. The announcement was made at New York Climate Week in September.
The conference opened on Monday with an early dispute over money. UN secretary general Antonio Guterres told delegates to “get serious” about the crisis after a year of heatwaves in Europe, major wildfires in Indonesia and catastrophic floods in Nepal, with an exceptionally strong El Nino adding to the disruption. Thousands of participants have gathered at an expo centre in the Mediterranean city for the two-week talks, which end on 20 November.
Observers expect few major breakthroughs. An oil price shock and geopolitical tensions linked to the US war with Iran and Russia’s conflict in Ukraine are weighing on the negotiations.
The leaders’ segment may also lack some of the biggest names. A provisional UN speakers’ list names 77 countries whose leaders are due to speak on 11 and 12 November. Beyond the Turkish and Australian co-hosts, the only G20 nations represented at head of state or government level are the UK, Brazil and China. Australia holds the formal role of president of negotiations, and its prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will speak. Turkey leads the presidency and hosts the summit. About a third of the countries listed are African and a quarter are small island developing states. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to open the summit on Wednesday.
Climate finance remains one of the most contested questions in the talks. Developing countries argue that existing commitments fall short of their needs and that the way money is delivered often leaves vulnerable nations with more debt.
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