Shehbaz reaches Antalya to press climate finance demand at COP31

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Antalya on Tuesday to attend the COP31 leaders' summit, where he will press wealthy countries to raise climate finance for developing states, the Foreign Office said.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ministry said the prime minister will ask developed countries for climate finance that is predictable, adequate and easy to access, so that developing countries can strengthen their climate resilience and pursue sustainable development without adding to their debt burden.

Sharif will tell the summit that Pakistan is moving its economy towards clean energy, with solar and other renewable sources central to that effort, according to the statement. He will also set out steps taken to improve disaster preparedness and early warning systems, which the Foreign Office described as increasingly urgent as the country faces repeated floods and extreme weather.

A joint assessment by the government of Pakistan and the World Bank found that the 2022 floods affected 33 million people and caused more than $30 billion in financial and economic losses. More disasters followed, including heavy monsoon flooding in 2025. A World Bank report published this year said those floods displaced large numbers of people and caused losses of billions of dollars.

Express News reported that the prime minister was received at Antalya airport by Turkey's deputy minister of culture and tourism, Gokhan Yazgi, Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey, Aamna Baloch, and senior Turkish officials.

He will address the leaders' summit on Wednesday and is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other heads of government attending the conference, Express News reported. The Foreign Office said he will also attend a high-level roundtable convened by the COP31 presidency, and Express News said he will speak at a dialogue on the transition to renewable energy and power generation.

The Pakistani pavilion at the conference will host 54 events, according to Express News.

Pakistan counts the approval of the Loss and Damage Fund at COP27 among its achievements in climate diplomacy. The Antalya conference, running from 9 to 20 November, will discuss accelerating climate action, investment in clean energy, resilience to climate risk and access to finance, with the leaders' summit held on 11 and 12 November.