DUBAI – The United States on Saturday joined hands with Pakistan to launch Recharge Pakistan, a $77.8 million partnership to enhance Pakistan’s climate and water resilience.
Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar launched the initiative on the sidelines of the UN climate summit COP28 in Dubai on Saturday.
Historic moment at #COP28! 🇵🇰
Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar unveils "Recharge Pakistan" at #COP28 – a $77.8M initiative for nature-based solutions against #climatechange.
Read the full announcement here: https://t.co/U7dmLosaKZ pic.twitter.com/KYAeGUR2S2
— WWF-Pakistan (@WWFPak) December 3, 2023
According to a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the Embassy of the United States of America in Islamabad, “Today on the margins of COP28, Ambassador Blome joined Caretaker PM Kakar in launching Recharge Pakistan, a $77.8 million partnership to enhance Pakistan’s climate and water resilience.
“In partnership with the Green Climate Fund, Coca-Cola Foundation, and the World Wildlife Fund, Recharge Pakistan will help Pakistan pivot toward ecosystem-based adaptation across three of the nation’s provinces directly benefitting 700,000 Pakistanis and indirectly benefitting 7 million more. The groundbreaking program puts local communities at the center of climate decision-making.”
Today on the margins of COP28, Ambassador Blome joined Caretaker PM Kakar in launching Recharge Pakistan, a $77.8 million partnership to enhance Pakistan's climate and water resilience. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/y2oBZosmhl
— U.S. Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) December 2, 2023
In a related development, Vice President Kamala Harris announced at the UN’s COP28 conference on Saturday the United States would contribute $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a global climate fund.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), the world’s biggest climate fund, funnels grants and loans for adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries, such as solar panels in Pakistan or flood management in Haiti.
This is the first US pledge to a climate fund since 2014. The last US contribution to the fund for developing countries was made under then President Barack Obama, who committed $3 billion in 2014.
Addressing the climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Harris said, “Today, we are demonstrating through action how the world can and must meet this crisis.”
The $3 billion pledged by Harris must be approved by the US Congress and this amount will go into the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was set up in 2010. US President Joe Biden sent Harris in his place to COP28.
Prior to the announcement made by the US vice president, $13.5 billion had been pledged to the GCF.
Pakistan launches National Adaptation Plan to tackle climate change
Hit hard by the impact of the climate change, developing countries least responsible for climate change are seeking support from richer polluting nations to adapt to the increasingly ferocious and expensive consequences of extreme weather, and for their transitions to cleaner energy sources.