PM dismisses cacophony over being uninvited to climate summit

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has responded after he was shunned from a climate change summit being hosted by United States President Joe Biden.

The US President Joe Biden invited 40 world leaders to the Leaders Summit on Climate he will host on April 22 and 23. However, Pakistan was the most notable omission from the list of invitees.

In a statement on Twitter, the prime minister said he was puzzled at the cacophony over Pakistan not invited to the climate change conference.

He said the government’s environment policies are driven solely by the commitment to future and the Clean and Green Pakistan initiative developed to mitigate the effects of climate change.

PM Imran Khan said they have launched initiatives under Clean and Green Pakistan programme, Ten Billion Tsunami projects and other nature=based solutions and cleaning up rivers.

He said the government has gained vast experience in seven years beginning from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and out polities are being recognised and lauded. He said they are ready to help any state interested in learning from our experience.

He said the government has laid out priorities beginning with the UN Climate Change Conference 2021 (COP26) if the “international community is serious about countering impact of climate change”.

Hence our initiatives of Green Pak, 10 bn-tree tsunami, nature based solutions, cleaning up our rivers etc. We have gained vast experience in 7 yrs, beg with KP, & our policies are being recognised & lauded. We are ready to help any state wanting to learn from our experience.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 3, 2021

United States President Joe Biden invited 40 world leaders to participate in the Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate on April 22-23 but surprisingly left out Pakistan, a country severely affected by climate change.

The leaders invited for Global Climate Summit included Prime Ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan and India. President Biden had also invited the leadership of countries like Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Indonesia and Italy.

While responding to a media query, the Spokesperson of the Foreign Office said Pakistan’s commitment to addressing Climate Change and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s leadership on this account was well accepted and appreciated around the world.

“Pakistan, despite being among the top ten countries affected by Climate Change, is one of the lowest emitters – with less than 1% of the global emissions,” he said.

READ MORE: Biden invites 40 world leaders to climate summit, excludes Imran Khan

He said the government’s landmark initiatives like the Billion Tree Tsunami had won international acclaim, including from the World Economic Forum.

The spokesman said Pakistan was also contributing to shape the global Climate Change as the Vice President of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Pakistan also co-chaired the multibillion-dollar Green Climate Fund, established to support climate actions in developing countries, last year.

“Climate Change was one of the defining challenges of our times that could only be countered through inclusive, cooperative and forward-looking policies. Pakistan remained fully committed to play its due role in this fight,” the Spokesperson added.