PM Shehbaz seeks concessional financing to meet Pakistan’s climate targets

ANTALYA, Turkiye: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called for greater concessional financing and affordable technology transfers to help developing countries meet their climate targets, saying Pakistan needed around $138 billion by 2035 to develop low-carbon power and another $50 billion to replace coal with solar energy.

Addressing the leaders’ summit of the 31st session of the United Nations climate conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkiye, Shehbaz said climate ambitions could only be achieved if financing flowed at the pace of countries’ needs.

“35×35 (global electrification target) will be achieved only if finance flows at the speed of ambition through concessional capital and transfer of affordable technology,” he said.

The prime minister said Pakistan had already undergone a major shift towards cleaner energy, adding nearly 22 gigawatts of rooftop solar capacity in just two years as households and businesses sought more affordable and reliable electricity.

He described the expansion as a “quiet revolution” driven by ordinary citizens seeking cheaper power and a cleaner, more predictable future.

Shehbaz also highlighted Pakistan’s nuclear energy programme, saying he had inaugurated a key section of the country’s seventh nuclear power plant while travelling to Antalya a day earlier. The state-of-the-art project, he said, would add 1,200 megawatts to the country’s energy mix.

Turning to the transport sector, he said another transformation was underway on Pakistan’s roads, with clean sources now accounting for nearly 55 per cent of the country’s energy mix.

Under a recently launched auto policy, Pakistan aims to have electric vehicles account for 30 per cent of new vehicle sales by 2030, he said, adding that incentives, including lower tariffs, were being offered to promote their adoption.

The government also plans to make all future government buses and motorcycles electric. Shehbaz said more than one in every 10 motorcycles sold in Pakistan this year was electric for the first time.

“The momentum is real and it is accelerating,” he said.

However, the prime minister warned that the transition could not be sustained without adequate financing, stressing the need to expand power grids, develop energy storage and make new technologies affordable.

He said these challenges were particularly difficult for countries already burdened by debt, calling for international support to ensure that climate action did not deepen their economic difficulties.

“Let us resolve to power our economies without impoverishing our people and light up our rooms without darkening our planet,” he said, urging countries to work together to deliver on the 35×35 commitment.