ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that Pakistan has been a strong voice and a proactive advocate for climate finance for developing countries that was fully acknowledged by the world at the 28th United Nations Conference of Parties (COP 28) in Dubai, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday. 

PM Kakar, who is currently leading Pakistan's delegation at COP28, addressed some of the most-pressing issues related to what experts say is a rapidly accelerating climate crisis and its impacts on the developing countries.  

His visit saw an early victory at COP28, with delegates adopting a new fund to help poor nations cope with costly climate disasters on the opening day of the conference this week. In establishing the fund, they opened the door for governments to announce contributions.  

Speaking to foreign media in Dubai, the prime minister noted that Pakistan had advocated for the "loss and damage" fund in last year's COP27 in Egypt to assist developing countries in facing climate challenges in terms of mitigation and risk reduction. 

“Pakistan has always been advocating that the countries who have not contributed to the carbon emissions but remained one of the worst affected by the climate disaster must be compensated in terms of mitigation, climate adaptation and receiving climate finance to address all those challenges,” he was quoted as saying by Pakistan's state-run APP news agency. 

Pakistan, one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change, had set up its own pavilion at the COP28 venue to use the conference to remind wealthy countries of their “crucial” responsibility in supporting climate-vulnerable nations and the need for “equity and justice” in global climate policies.  

PM Kakar said the operationalization of the fund by the announcement of $30 billion by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was a "good start" in the right direction, according to the APP report.  

Initially, he said, the funding should be utilized through multi-lateral organizations like the World Bank to swiftly start the implementation process.  

On Saturday, PM Kakar participated in the Global Stock Take event to assess the progress made by the world to collectively deal with the issue of climate change. 

“In his remarks at this roundtable discussion, the Prime Minister highlighted the acuteness of the climate crisis and laid emphasis on providing adequate means of implementation including climate finance, capacity-building and technology, to developing countries to tackle this growing challenge,” PM Kakar's office said in a brief statement. 

He pointed out that climate finance would always be the enabler for climate action, adding that the needs of developing countries far exceeded the unfulfilled $100 billion pledge made in Paris during the 2015 conference to ensure climate adaptability. 

KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Transporters across Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region on Sunday observed a wheel-jam strike after a passenger bus was targeted by unidentified militants near the Chilas town, killing eight people and injuring 25 others a day earlier.  

Chilas, a rugged, mountainous town, lies in GB's Diamer district, which has been a site of militant attacks, including some claimed by the Pakistani Taliban. In 2018, militants torched 13 girls’ schools in the district, while in 2012, unidentified gunmen killed nine passengers and torched six buses in the region. 

However, the Pakistani Taliban distanced themselves from Saturday's attack, while no group immediately claimed responsibility for targeting the passenger bus that was en route to Rawalpindi from Gilgit. Officials said they were investigating the attack. 

“All transporters are on strike today after this tragic incident in all districts of Gilgit-Baltistan,” Ashraf Al-Hussaini, president of the GB transporters association, told Arab News.  

"This is not the first incident in this region. We had to face such incidents in the past as well in which many people were killed."

He urged the government to increase patrolling of law enforcement agencies and set up security check-posts along a section of the Karakoram Highway passing through the district. 

Hussaini said their strike was only for Sunday and they would announce their next move soon. 

GB Information Minister Iman Shah said law enforcement authorities were investigating the attack and trying to ascertain the motive behind it. 

“Treatment of the injured people is ongoing and bodies of the deceased are being shifted to their native towns and villages," Shah told Arab News over the phone. “No one has yet claimed the responsibility for the attack.” 

Diamer Superintendent of Police (SP) Sheheryar Khan said unidentified militants opened fire on the bus in the Chilas-Hudur region at around 6:30pm on Saturday. 

Arif Ahmed, the Diamer deputy commissioner, said some of the passengers hailed from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Sindh provinces. 

"Two Pakistan Army soldiers were among the people martyred in the attack," he told reporters. 

In a text message to Arab News, the Pakistani Taliban distanced themselves from the attack. 

“Tehreek-e-Taliban has nothing to do with the firing incident on a bus in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Chilas area,” said Muhammad Khurasani, a spokesperson for the group.