ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom (UK) government this week announced £108 million in funds to support Pakistani businesses adapt to climate challenges, saying that it would help them develop technologies and meet significant investments required to tackle climate threats.
The announcement was made at the culmination of the two-day visit by British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan Hamish Falconer to Islamabad on Friday.
The British government said the funding will support a first-of-its-kind investment facility to deliver climate technologies and private sector support in Pakistan. The program will be delivered in partnership with the International Finance Corporation.
“The UK and Pakistan are committed to tackling tomorrow’s threats today,” Falconer was quoted as saying by the British government on Friday.
“That’s why we’re investing in the expertise needed and supporting local businesses, alongside the Government of Pakistan, to get ahead of the challenges that climate change poses to the Pakistani people and the world.”
According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan is among the countries most at risk from climate change. The 2022 floods, which experts linked to global warming, impacted over 33 million people, resulted in more than 1,700 deaths and caused an estimated $33 billion in damages.
Pakistan’s economic struggles and high debt burden put a strain on its resources and impinged its ability to respond to the disaster.
Pakistan has also been grappling with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, including droughts, heatwaves, and heavy rainfall. This year, the country experienced its heaviest April rainfall since 1961, with 59.3 millimeters recorded. Additionally, several regions faced severe heatwaves in May and June.
“The program will leverage the £108m the UK puts in to mobilize 5-6 times that amount of investment from the private sector and will support the creation of over 100,000 Pakistani jobs,” the British government said on its official website.
Pakistan and the UK enjoy strong military, economic and educational ties, with the latter hosting a large Pakistani diaspora.
Recent high-level visits by military leaders from both countries have signalled a deepening of defense ties and cooperation. The strong relationship is built on a shared history and the significant presence of a Pakistani diaspora in the country.
UK announces £108 million to support Pakistani businesses tackle climate change
https://arab.news/5dvaj
UK announces £108 million to support Pakistani businesses tackle climate change
- Funds will help businesses develop climate technologies, support Pakistan’s private sector
- UK government says program will support the creation of over 100,000 Pakistani jobs
Pakistani students stuck in Afghanistan permitted to go home
- The border between the countries has been shut since Oct. 12
- Worries remain for students about return after the winter break
JALALABAD: After three months, some Pakistani university students who were stuck in Afghanistan due to deadly clashes between the neighboring countries were “permitted to go back home,” Afghan border police said Monday.
“The students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (northwest Pakistan) who were stuck on this side of the border, only they were permitted to cross and go to their homes,” said Abdullah Farooqi, Afghan border police spokesman.
The border has “not reopened” for other people, he said.
The land border has been shut since October 12, leaving many people with no affordable option of making it home.
“I am happy with the steps the Afghan government has taken to open the road for us, so that my friends and I will be able to return to our homes” during the winter break, Anees Afridi, a Pakistani medical student in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, told AFP.
However, worries remain for the hundreds of students about returning to Afghanistan after the break ends.
“If the road is still closed from that side (Pakistan), we will be forced to return to Afghanistan for our studies by air.”
Flights are prohibitively expensive for most, and smuggling routes also come at great risk.
Anees hopes that by the time they return for their studies “the road will be open on both sides through talks between the two governments.”
