Sajid Irfan

Around 33 million people have been affected by climate change-triggered catastrophic floods across Pakistan this year. In this tough and difficult situation, the government has launched an appeal to the international community for help.

Figure 1 Climate change and Pakistan

Speaking to WealthPK on the condition of anonymity, an official of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) said the 26th Congress of Socialist International (SI) on Climate Change was held in Madrid. The primary purpose of the congress was to attract the world’s attention on Pakistan's climate change problems.

He said Shazia Marri, Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety and Chairperson of BISP, had urged the international community to take some serious steps to resolve the climate change issues facing Pakistan.

The BISP official quoted the minister as saying that 33 million people in Pakistan, including 650,000 expectant mothers and four million children, were severely affected by the most severe rains and floods in the country's history due to climate change.

Flooding across Pakistan has left one-third of the country under water, destroyed around two million homes and business premises, washed away 13,000 kilometres of roads and destroyed 500 bridges.

He said climate change is probably the greatest threat facing the planet and mankind. “It has become a reality; we hope the global community, which is now showing some seriousness about it, will take some real action this time,” he added.

“Climate change is a threat to health, livelihoods, agriculture, peace and security and the overall economy of the world. The crisis is deepening, with emissions and temperatures continuing to rise and extreme weather events becoming more frequent and more intense,” he added.

The BISP official said as countries across the world had struggled to deal with the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, action within the global community to address climate crisis had fallen short of what will be required to prevent an irreversible climate change. 

He said governments around the world had the capacity to act with an unprecedented speed and in cooperation; however, when it came to the existential threat of climate change, there remained a lack of urgency in the global coordinated action, compounded by climate denial and unwillingness to make necessary sacrifices for the future of the planet as a result of misguided self-interest.

“The SI will continue to be keen to encourage a strong action on climate change through the efforts of its member parties and the regular work and initiatives of its regional and thematic committees on this issue, as well as of its statutory bodies,” he added.

“To fight climate change, we must first reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To accomplish this, the first step is to embrace renewable energies that are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. In addition, energy generation through the burning of fossil fuels must be avoided,’’ he added.

He said it was a task to be approached with utmost seriousness and urgency to secure the future of our shared planet and welfare of generations to come.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk