Pakistan needs $348bn for climate and development challenges: WB.

ISLAMABAD -- The World Bank has estimated that the total investment needs for a comprehensive response to Pakistan's climate and development challenges between 2023 and 2030 amount to around $348 billion which is equal to 10.7 per cent of cumulative GDP for the same period.

This consists of $152bn for adaptation and resilience and $196bn for deep de-carbonisation, reveals the Country Climate and DeveAlopment Report for Pakistan released by the World Bank at the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh on WedAnesday.

The report warned that the combined risks from the intensification of climate change and environmental degradation, unless addrAessed, will further aggravate Pakistan's economic fragility, and could ultimately reduce annual GDP by 18 to 20 per cent per year by 2050.

Between 6.5 and 9pc of GDP will likely be lost to climate change as increased floods and heatwaves reduce agriculture and livestock yields, destroy infrastructure, labour productivity, and undermine health. Additionally, water shortages in agriculture could reduce GDP by more than 4.6pc, and air pollution could impose a loss of 6.5pc of GDP per year, warns the report.

Calls on Islamabad to make its case for concessional international funds

A comprehensive climate-financing strategy will need to be developed with higher domestic resource mobilisation, more accountable and impactful allocation of public spending and higher levels of international climate finance.

Given the size of expected climate shocks, greater concessional international finance will be essential. Pakistan can and should forcefully make its case for this, but donors may be more willing to offer sustained support if revenue leakage and governance issues are systematically addressed, the report says.

The government should prioritise interventions that simultaneously deliver development outcomes and climate benefits and sequAence policy actions realistically, based on their overall impact and relative urgency. However, as the magnitude of the recent floods shows, the government may also be forced to evaluate some hard trade-offs between investing in climate adaptation and other development interventions.

Considering the scale of the shocks, Pakistan will need increased international support in order to build longer-term resilience or else its hard-won development gains and future aspirations could be jeopardised, the report says.

An illustrative assessment based on a retrospective review of the level of funding in...