ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal this week called on developed nations and international financial institutions to play a greater role in helping developing countries adopt green technologies at lower costs, state-run media reported. 

Pakistan has suffered frequent climate change-induced disasters over the past couple of years, ranging from floods, droughts, heatwaves, cyclones and other irregular weather patterns. 

This year the South Asian country reported over 1,000 deaths from floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains and the melting of glaciers. 

“He [Iqbal] said Pakistan has urged developed countries and international financial institutions to expand their role in climate financing to enable developing nations to adopt green technologies at lower costs,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Saturday. 

The minister was speaking at the Second Asia Energy Transition Summit held at Pakistani university LUMS on Saturday. 

Iqbal warned that climate change is intensifying emergencies and increasing economic burdens on vulnerable countries, adding that financial incentives and concessional financing have become indispensable for sustainable climate action.

“He further emphasized the need to redesign the global financial system based on the principles of collective responsibility and equity,” APP said. 

The minister noted that Pakistan has been introducing comprehensive reforms in its development agenda to promote renewable energy, solar power and green technological solutions. 

The country, he said, possesses “strong solar potential,” a robust renewable energy market, a wide talent pool in engineering and science and an enabling environment for green innovation.

Pakistan has regularly urged developed countries to fulfill past pledges and provide easy access to climate funding without attaching conditions, especially at Conference of Parties (COP30) climate summits. 

Islamabad was instrumental in getting the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) established at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in 2022. The Loss and Damage Fund aims to help developing and least developed countries cope with both economic and non-economic impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events and slow-onset crises like sea-level rise and droughts.