ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will on Sunday leave for Egypt to participate in the COP27 climate summit being held on November 7 and 8.
The prime minister will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, members of his cabinet and high-ranking officials of his administration.
At the invitation of Egypt, Sharif would also co-chair, along with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Støre, a high-level roundtable discussion on “climate change and the sustainability of vulnerable communities” on the second day of the event, PM Office said in a press statement.
The prime minister will also participate in other events as a speaker, including the UN secretary general’s roundtable to launch the “Early Warning Systems for Executive Action Plan”, and the “Middle East Green Initiative Summit” on November 7, being hosted by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The prime minister is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders on the margins of the summit.
COP-27 is taking place at a time when millions of people in Pakistan, and more in other parts of the world, are facing severe adverse impacts of climate change, a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a press statement.
As a developing country most affected by this phenomenon, Pakistan would make a robust call, among other things, for the urgency of climate solidarity and justice based on the established principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, the Foreign Office said.
“In its capacity as the incumbent Chair of the Group of 77 and China, which is the largest negotiating bloc of developing countries within the UN system, Pakistan would also lead the Group in the climate change negotiations; including in thematic areas such as climate finance, adaptation, mitigation, and capacity building,” it was added.
The COP is the supreme decision-making body under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which meets on annual basis to review and advance collective efforts to address climate change.
As the main stakeholder, Pakistan would continue to, proactively, make positive contributions to the global climate change debate, negotiations and collective action, the spokesperson added.
