Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal says Pakistan is committed to enhancing its social development performance.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on Monday, he said bilateral exchange of knowledge can help in strengthening country level to learn Sustainable Development Goals implementation.

The Minister for Planning and Development said international partners can play their role in creating synergies.

Highlighting the threat of climate change, he said countries including Pakistan have been facing climatic risks which have necessitated climate adaptation and disaster risk management.

Ahsan Iqbal said climate change is the biggest man made natural disaster which we are facing today.

He said Pakistan is among top ten countries worldwide most affected by climate change. He said government played an instrumental role in historic decision at COP-27 to establish a fund for loss and damage caused by climate disasters.

Ahsan Iqbal said this dedicated fund will address losses and damages in developing countries which are vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate change.

The Minister for Planning and Development said 2022 floods in our country have destroyed livelihood of millions of people.

He said preliminary estimate suggest that as direct consequences of flood the national poverty rate will increase by four percent approximately pushing between 8.4 to 9.1 million people in poverty.

He said total estimated cost of damages, loss and needs are about 46.4 billion dollars.

The Minister for Planning and Development announced that a conference of friends of Pakistan will be organized on 10th of next month to help build as climate resilient country.

He said SDGs are more than ever critical today for offering practical solutions at a time when both developed and developing countries are facing aftershocks of the pandemic, high inflation and environmental impacts.