UNITED NATIONS, Sep 24 (APP): Pakistan on Wednesday urged unity among developing nations to confront an “escalating development crisis,” warning that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) financing gap has surged from $2.5 trillion in 2019 to over $4 trillion, with climate action needs adding several more trillions.
Speaking at the Annual Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Group of 77 and China, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar cautioned that widening inequalities, rising debt distress in over 100 countries, multiplying climate disasters, geopolitical tensions, and the digital divide posed grave risks to the global economy.
The deputy PM assured that Pakistan will remain a steadfast partner in the common endeavour to uphold and promote the shared interests of the Global South, both within the United Nations and beyond.
Despite these challenges, he highlighted the Group’s achievements this year, including the adoption of the Compromiso de Sevilla at FFD4.
He called for its full implementation, including convening ECOSOC special meetings on financial integrity and credit rating agencies, revitalizing the Development Cooperation Forum, scaling up multilateral development bank lending, establishing a Borrowers’ Forum, and launching a process to fix systemic debt gaps.
He stressed the importance of the Global South’s role in UN-led processes on Artificial Intelligence to bridge the digital divide and protect collective interests. He also urged advancing negotiations on a UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation with African partners, to curb illicit flows and ensure fair taxation.
On climate change, he underscored the principle of “Common But Differentiated Responsibility,” pressing developed partners to deliver $300 billion annually in predictable, grant-based finance. Citing Pakistan’s $30 billion loss from the 2022 floods and recurring disasters despite contributing less than 1% of emissions, he termed the situation a stark injustice.
“For Pakistan, the urgency is stark: three years after the 2022 floods that caused $30 billion in damages, we are once again facing catastrophic floods, despite contributing less than 1% of global emissions. This injustice remains unaddressed,” he added.
He emphasized that UN reform under the UN80 Initiative must strengthen—not weaken—sustainable development mandates. “Pakistan will remain a steadfast partner in upholding the shared interests of the Global South,” he affirmed.