ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, who is currently visiting China to attend an international forum, will be visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month.
He will attend the United Nations climate change conference being held at the Dubai Expo Centre. Diplomatic sources told The News on Monday that Pakistan had conveyed UAE authorities its consent to take part in the event. The schedule of the visit is being worked out through diplomatic channels. Prime Minister Kakar, who has visited the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and China after assuming office in mid-August, will avail the opportunity to meet world leaders on the sidelines of the conference, which is called the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP28. It will be the 28th United Nations climate change conference.
Sources said that Pakistan will share its experience and apprehensions with world leaders about climate change. The host UAE is one of the most vulnerable to climate change countries in the world, as it is located in a region with a very hot and humid climate. Rising temperatures are already severely impacting the daily life of the population, increasing payments for electricity, water, making simply walking in the street difficult. In summer months, many leave for other regions or do not leave space with air conditioning. It will be the second time in two years that the conference is being held in the Middle East since Egypt had hosted the last year’s conference at the picturesque tourists’ resort Sharam el Shaikh.
The Dubai conference will be held by the end of the next month and experts on climate change from Pakistan would also be visiting Dubai for discussions to compile their reports before the conference, sources said. Pakistan attended the previous conference held in November 2022 in Egypt and another international conference on “Climate Resilient Pakistan” was held in Geneva in January this year that was co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Nations. The participating countries and world agencies announced Pakistan’s financial support to combat the complexities due to climate changes as it had to experience two devastating rains and floods within a period of two years. The commitments were about 12 billion dollars in the shape of assistance and soft loans.
