• Justice Mansoor floats idea of climate court; Romina says V20 summit in Pakistan soon
• Expert says NDCs 3.0 to have a ‘balance between mitigation and adaptation’; rues climate action hindered by lack of tech, finance
ISLAMABAD: Nearly a month after COP29 concluded with a modest finance goal of $300 billion, stakeholders from the government, judiciary and civil society convened to discuss the successes and failures of the Baku summit with a focus on the next round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to be submitted in February ahead of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, in November next year.
The event, titled “Post-COP Reflections from Baku to Pakistan”, hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), was addressed by Prime Minister’s Climate Change Coordinator Romina Khurshid Alam, Supreme Court’s senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Jawad Hassan of the Lahore High Court and officials from the climate change ministry as well as civil society representatives. Azerbaijan’s Ambassador Khazar Farhadov also spoke at the event.
In his address, Justice Mansoor floated the idea of alternative dispute resolutions for climate, saying such courts at the national and global levels were essential to expeditiously address potential disputes regarding climate finance and related problems. “We are also thinking [of] climate arbitration because that will be required. Sooner or later, there will be disputes in these matters,” the SC judge said while sharing how the judiciary could play its role in climate change.
He said climate courts would be required to decide these matters urgently because “if it gets stuck in the regular court structure, there would be no way you can address climate change”, advocating for the establishment of a global climate court, akin to the International Court of Justice, to address climate issues at an international level.
Justice Mansoor underscored the importance of science-based approaches in developing climate-resilient infrastructure, emphasising that meaningful climate action is impossible without integrating science. He suggested that instead of relying on the Global North for climate finance, Pakistan could explore innovative financing mechanisms such as Zakat, Waqf (endowments), Sadqa (voluntary charity) and Sukuk Bonds.
He also criticised the government for failing to allocate any funds to its local climate fund in the recent budget.
Justice Mansoor equated climate finance with fundamental rights. “Climate finance to me now becomes the new human right. I think it is directly connected with the right to life. It will directly be connected with the right to dignity,” he said while talking about the impact of climate-induced events on communities. “Climate justice without climate finance is a joke for us,” he said while reflecting on his experience at COP29 in Baku.
Romina Khurshid Alam praised Pakistan’s negotiators who spearheaded technical and policy talks at COP29, saying they were lauded by the international observers as well. The PM’s aide said Pakistan would host a meeting of V20 (vulnerable 20) soon to formulate a roadmap, adding that V20 and developing countries needed to come up with a mechanism to push for their rights amid delaying tactics by the rich nations. “We returned with a clear understanding of where future efforts must be directed. We want environmental justice, and it’s essential for developing and affected countries to collaborate,” Ms Alam added.
NDCs 3.0
In his remarks, SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Sulehri emphasised the importance of advancing NDCs and the new collective quantified goal as key levers for climate action. Strengthening these frameworks can guide countries toward impactful mitigation and adaptation outcomes, he said, stressing the need to build on the learnings from COP29 on the road to COP30 in Belem, Brazil. “The path forward requires collaborative effort, innovative strategies, and a renewed commitment to addressing climate change challenges at both national and international levels,” said Dr Sulehri.
Arif Goheer, who was Pakistan’s lead negotiator at COP29, said a stocktake of NDCs from 2021 to 2024 was underway and admitted challenges to their implementation during his remarks. He noted that a comparison of greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories from 2018 and 2021 clearly showed that emissions from energy production were decreasing for “various reasons”.
Over the past three years, he said, the federal government has worked with the provincial actors on provincial NDCs, for instance in the energy, transport, waste, and agriculture sectors. He, however, said the efforts to reduce emissions, particularly 35pc cut dependent on international contributions, were restricted due to financial limitations. He said at COP29 there was resistance from developed countries on the consensus about the transfer of technology implementation roadmap, adding that the role of development partners was essential in the provision of finance and technology. He said Pakistan’s fresh NDCs aimed to have a balance between mitigation and adaptation, adding that the country suffered a series of disasters over the past years.
Sana Rasool, the deputy director at the climate change ministry, highlighted the role of carbon markets after the operationalisation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. She said the consensus — in which Pakistan played a major role — was achieved after “intense negotiations” of nine years. She said the upcoming NDCs were the focus of negotiations in every track at COP29. According to her, the next climate conference as well as the NDCs will see a greater focus on transparency and quality of carbon credits/internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs).
While stressing a proactive approach with regards to the new climate goals, Basit Ghauri of the Renewables First said that the country has to validate its fresh NDCs in terms of projections so that “we have pressure on ourselves to make sure it’s not business as usual”.
Sobiah Becker from the Pak-German Climate Change Partnership, with a portfolio of 500 million euros, underscored the importance of absorptive capacity within indigenous systems while accessing climate finance. “Much finance is available within the system, but ensuring it can be effectively utilised is critical,” she claimed.
Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2024
