Deputy PM Welcomes IF-CAP’s Climate Finance Initiative.

BAKU: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has welcomed the IF-CAP commitment to innovation in climate finance instruments to unlock available, affordable, and accessible climate finance for developing countries. Addressing an event titled "Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific" at the sidelines of COP29 in Baku today, he highlighted the mobilization of 2.5 billion dollars in guarantees from IF-CAP partners, which is expected to unlock eleven billion dollars in climate finance to support developing member countries. According to Radio Pakistan, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the importance of this initiative in promoting implementation support at a crucial time when new ambitious climate finance goals are being negotiated, based on the needs and priorities of developing countries. He reiterated Pakistan's support for reforms in Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address the challenges faced by developing countries and to enhance currency risk hedging for low- and middle-income countries. Ishaq Dar further stated that Pakistan is among the top ten countries most affected by climate change. The devastating floods of 2022 notably contracted Pakistan's GDP by 4% and resulted in loss and damages exceeding 30 billion dollars. He stressed that Pakistan requires 348 billion dollars to achieve climate resilience by 2030, reaffirming the country's commitment to climate action in collaboration with the international community.