BONN, GERMANY: Awkward situation was witnessed at an international forum of climate when Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan insisted on delivering a written speech for the COP23 meet Tuesday evening.

In the event, world leaders stressed on the need of an urgent climate-related action, as UN chief Antonio Guterres, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel led the diplomatic push in Bonn.

In the high-level ministerial event, the ministers were expected to spontaneously answer questions put forward by the moderator.

The event was called ‘Champions for Climate Action: The NDC Partnership’ and was attended by ministers from over 30 countries.

The minister was called on stage to give a short statement on why Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are important.

NDCs are voluntary national plans to cut carbon emissions that have been submitted by each country to the UNFCC under the Paris Agreement of 2015.

However, the Pakistani minister was unable to answer a simple question regarding the relevance of NDCs to Pakistan briefly.

Mushahidullah insisted upon giving his 5-minute-long written speech. He was allowed by the moderator to do so in two minutes, but the minister stretched the address to four minutes.

At a jam-packed hall full of global media, it was nevertheless an extremely embarrassing moment for Pakistan with all the world watching.

Many ministers from small countries replied to the moderator’s questions in a nutshell. – Samaa