ANTALYA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived at the COP31 Leaders’ Summit on Wednesday, where he is expected to press for more accessible climate finance for developing countries as the United Nations warns that global action is falling behind the pace of climate change.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres received Sharif at the summit venue, Pakistan TV reported. The prime minister joined other world leaders for a group photograph.
The Delegates from nearly 200 countries are attending the talks in Antalya, where governments face pressure to curb emissions while wars, inflation and rising energy costs compete for their attention
The Prime Minister’s Office said Sharif would urge governments to strengthen international cooperation on climate change.
According to the Foreign Office, he will call for predictable, adequate and accessible funding to help developing countries prepare for climate-related disasters and pursue sustainable development.
Sharif is also expected to outline Pakistan’s efforts to expand solar power and other renewable energy sources, improve disaster preparedness and strengthen early-warning systems.
He is scheduled to meet Erdoğan and other leaders on the sidelines. The Prime Minister’s Office said the Pakistan Pavilion would host 54 events during the conference.
Guterres told leaders that rising emissions, higher temperatures and worsening disasters showed how far governments were falling behind.
He urged countries to accelerate the shift to clean energy, saying dependence on imported fossil fuels leaves economies exposed to price shocks.
Sharif is due to speak at a high-level dialogue titled “35 by 35: Powering the Future.”
Türkiye is pushing to raise electricity’s share of global energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035, up from just over one-fifth today.
The proposal leaves open how the additional electricity would be generated. That question matters because the emissions impact of switching vehicles, buildings and factories to electricity depends in part on how clean the power supply is.
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Developing countries are also pressing for more funding to help communities prepare for floods, droughts and other climate hazards.
