ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed a “landmark” $500 million dollar loan agreement under the ‘Climate and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program,’ state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last month Pakistan was targeting around $1 billion in a formal request for funding from an IMF facility that helps low and middle income countries mitigate climate risk. The IMF already agreed to a $7 billion bailout for Pakistan in September but has additional funding available via its Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), created in 2022 to provide long-term concessional cash for climate-related spending such as adaptation and transitioning to cleaner energy.

“The signing of the [ADB] agreement underscores Pakistan’s commitment to prioritize climate change initiatives and scaling up disaster risk financing using a risk-layered approach,” Radio Pakistan said, quoting Pakistan’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Ahad Cheema. 

The program is aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s capacity for climate change adaptation and disaster risk management and will address the country’s vulnerabilities to natural disasters and climate impacts.

“The core objective of the program is to enhance institutional frameworks for disaster risk management by improving disaster risk mapping, response coordination, and gender-sensitive public investments,” Radio Pakistan added. 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who spoke at a number of events at the UN COP29 climate summit last week, used the forum to highlight the need to increase climate finance for vulnerable, developing countries. He said developing countries would need an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current nationally determined contributions (NDCs) or national action plans for reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts defined by the Paris Agreement.

The main task for nearly 200 countries at the COP29 summit, taking place from Nov. 11-22, is to broker a deal that ensures up to trillions of dollars in financing for climate projects worldwide.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Tuesday dispatched a consignment of aid for Syria where Israel has been carrying out strikes as part of its military actions in the Middle East.

Israel has been hitting what it calls Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, leading Israel to launch a military campaign in which more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 3,500 people in Lebanon.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after a Hamas-led assault on southern Israeli communities in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

“On Tuesday, 20th consignment of aid was dispatched from Karachi to Syria,” the NDMA said in a statement. 

“This aid shipment, sent by NDMA in collaboration with Al-Khidmat Foundation [NGO], comprised approximately 17 tons of supplies, including rice buckets, powdered milk, tin food, family packs, sleeping bags, medical support kits and generator. The aid was dispatched via chartered flight from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, to Damascus, Syria.”

Before Tuesday’s dispatch, the government of Pakistan had sent 12 aid consignments to Palestine, six to Lebanon, and one to Syria. 

Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Since the beginning of the war in October last year, Pakistan has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza and raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other international forums, urging an end to Israeli military actions.