BERLIN: Senator Sherry Rehman, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting with a delegation from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, led by Minister Svenja Schulze, at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue’s sidelines in Berlin.
During the meeting, Germany pledged 120 million euros to help fight climate change in Pakistan.
The two sides engaged in talks to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two nations in climate adaptation and mitigation measures.
The meeting focused on 3 main areas: better protection against floods, developing Pakistan’s renewable energy infrastructure, and bolstering social safety support programs to help vulnerable communities facing climate effects.
Schulze promised that Germany would provide Pakistan with 120 million euros to help the initiatives.
Sherry Rehman thanked Germany for supporting her country through the climate energy initiative, which has supported several activities, including mainstreaming climate education into higher education, climate risk assessments, sub-national climate risk profiling, and capacity building for finance mobilization.
She recognized Germany’s contribution to these measures as critical to enabling the country to adapt to the severe impacts of climate change and ensure a more resilient future.
Schulze stressed the importance of continuing to mobilize resources for corrective and preventive measures, as well as improving the capacity of Pakistan for climate adaptation and mitigation.
Mitigating climate change
She underlined that while technical solutions were important for mitigating climate change, it was equally necessary to prepare societies to better cope with severe weather in the future by bringing social solutions into the system.
Schulze reaffirmed German commitment to supporting Pakistan in these initiatives and voiced optimism about the progress through continued cooperation between the two nations.
The ministers also explored collaboration opportunities under the framework of the Global Shield against Climate Risks initiative. Spearheaded by Germany and introduced at COP27 in partnership with the Vulnerable Twenty Group and the G7, this policy aims to protect vulnerable developing nations and populations from the negative impacts of climate change.
Pakistan is one of the pathfinder nations where activities would be started first to improve preparedness and disaster response and social security systems in times of a climate disaster.
