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 68 countries from the most climate-vulnerable regions.

Pakistan to set up V20 Climate Action Data Bank. The Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group represents 68 countries from the most climate-vulnerable regions. Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam pledged her all-out support to set up V20 Climate Action Data Bank. She proposed V20 Climate Action Data Bank during a recent high-level meeting with representatives of the V20 member countries.

“Establishing the proposed data bank would be indeed a ground-breaking 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.

She offered her country’s willingness to play lead role in setting up the crucial data bank. She said that this centralized 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.

Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group

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 comprise more than 1.7 billion people. They 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.

Moreover, the climate vulnerability of V20 country’s makes the new data bank as inevitable to enhance access to reliable data. It will strengthen climate resilience strategies and leverage international funding.

V20 Data Bank

“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 emphasized.

“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 added.

She further said that 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. These include Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and Loss and Damage Fund to where it’s needed most.

It will highlight the importance of the data bank of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. The most vulnerable countries include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Mangolia, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan and Philippines.

Critical Climate-Related Data

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 sectorial 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