Prime Minister's Coordinator on Climate Change, Romina Khurshid Alam has reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to boost regional collaboration among the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group, representing 70 countries from the most climate-vulnerable regions and pledged her all-out support to set up V20 Climate Action Data Bank she proposed during a recent high-level meeting with representatives of the V20 member countries.

“Establishing the proposed data bank would be indeed a groundbreaking initiative to consolidate data on climate risks, economic losses and financial resilience-building needs of the V20 group member countries,” the PM’s climate aide said in a press statement issued here on Sunday.She offered her country’s willingness to play lead role in moblising V20 group member countries to set up the crucial data bank.

Romina Khurshid Alam said further that this centralised platform would in fact aim to empower V20 nations to effectively cope with adverse fallouts of climate change by providing the critical evidence-based information needed for informed decision-making and resource mobilization from available climate regional and international funding channels for the result-oriented climate actions through adaptation and mitigation efforts. The Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group is a coalition of finance ministers from countries highly susceptible to climate change impacts. Established in October 2015 in Lima, Peru, the V20 aims to promote greater investment in climate resilience and low-emission development.

As of October 2024, the V20 comprises 70 member countries from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific, collectively representing over 1.7 billion people and account for just 5% share in the total heat-trapping global carbon emissions. The PM’s climate aide said that today the V20 countries, comprising more than 1.7 billion people, are disproportionately affected by climate change. Many of these nations grapple with rising sea levels, extreme weather events and rapid environmental degradation that threaten their economies, essential infrastructures, populations and livelihoods.

Given the V20 country’s heightened climate vulnerability, the new data bank is inevitable to enhance access to reliable data to strengthen climate resilience strategies and leverage international funding,” she underlined. "Indeed, the proposed V20 Data Bank would be a major step forward in our collective efforts to safeguard our vulnerable communities, economies and critical infrastructure from the devastating impacts of climate change," the PM’s climate aide Romina Khurshid Alam emphasised "By centralizing data and making it widely accessible for decision makers, policymakers and planners, we can ensure that every dollar is well spent and every action is informed by the best available evidence."

She said further that while climate finance needs to flow faster and with precision, this crucial data bank would be also helpful to eliminate barriers and expedite funding flows from various regional and international funding channels such as Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and Loss and Damage Fund to where it's needed most.

Highlighting the importance of the data bank of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Mangolia, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan Philippines , the PM’s climate aide remarked that the proposed V20 data bank would also be instrumental to enhance regional cooperation by facilitating the sharing of critical climate-related data and resources aimed at improving understanding of vulnerabilities and risks, enabling countries to develop sectoral and country-needs-tailored strategies for climate resilience through mitigation and adaptation efforts.

She also highlighted that by pooling data, V20 member countries can engage in joint risk analysis, promote innovative financial mechanisms and coordinate responses to climate challenges more effectively. “With this this new and crucial collaborative approach, the V20 countries can also strengthens collective resilience efforts, ensuring that countries can better prepare for and respond to climate impacts, ultimately fostering sustainable development across the region,” PM’s climate aide said. "By enhancing risk management, timely informed decision-making and strengthening regional cooperation can also help attract investment and yield economic benefits", she highlighted and said.

Romina Khurshid Alam said that access to comprehensive climate data could also effectively assist in negotiating better on terms with international financing institutions such as Asian Development Bank, World Bank and International Monetary Fund for debt-for-nature swap, debt relief or restructuring to alleviate fiscal pressures and enabling governments to allocate resources toward development and resilience initiatives rather than debt servicing.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)