Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman has stressed the need for collaborative efforts to deal with multifaceted impacts of climate change, and urged investors to invest in climate-resilient development projects. She was addressing the inaugural session of the 6th edition of ‘The Future Summit’ held under the theme of ‘Prepare for Disruption’ to discuss challenges facing Pakistan, and deliberate upon the future footprints and required readiness to deal with them.

The two-day summit held in Karachi was organised by Nutshell Conferences Group and Engro Corporation in collaboration with Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) and Habib Bank Limited. A large number of business delegates from Pakistan and abroad, as well as the Pakistani diasporas from all over the world are taking part in the moot, reports WealthPK.

Sherry Rehman highlighted that Pakistan was facing multifaceted issues like terrorism, economic challenges, and above all, serious implications of climate change, and stressed that multi-pronged strategies besides investment of billions of dollars were required to deal with the situation. She termed record-breaking rains and floods as a wake-up call from nature, which affected millions of people and a vast area of the country.

She noted that such a disaster could happen again and destruction could be even more severe. She said the world was passing through an accelerated phase of global warming with rising temperatures, while Pakistan had become the hottest place in summer during the last three years. She said River Indus had been the second most plastic-chocked river in the world with accumulation of 38 million metric tonnes of plastic every year. 

“It is a non-traditional risk to the overall economy,” she said, while quoting a country report by the World Bank that pinpointed serious consequences of climate change for Pakistan, and recommended short, medium and long-term measures to deal with the threats. “The concept of climate change resilience is closely associated with development now and both could not be separated,” she stressed, adding that climate resilience measures in all the relevant sectors ranging from awareness to preparedness and mitigation required huge investment of $348 billion by 2030.

“The ministry of climate change was working on comprehensive policies in this regard, while our plan was declared as a model of hope at international forums,” she maintained. Sherry Rehman said that industries and business entities, either large or small, contributed over 70% to pollution over the last 100 years, and now the businesses had to take the lead in mitigation measures as well.

“The government has realised that eradication of impacts of climate change could not be done in vacuum, and all the stakeholders have to respond well in time,” she said, and urged investors to invest in climate resilient projects. “The businesses, while working in partnerships and joint ventures, should promote green financing, properly report SDG compliance, adopt recycling protocols, discourage extended use of plastic, be transparent in carbon footprint, invest in sustainability and impart awareness,” she further urged.

Earlier, addressing the session, Founder of Nutshell Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Chief Investment Officer of Engro Corporation Nadir Salar Qureshi, Chief Executive Officer of Jazz Aamir Ibrahim and President of Habib Bank Limited Muhammad Aurangzeb suggested various measures for economic growth.

They said millions of young students could be trained in coding skills to earn the much-needed foreign exchange in the short term, while focusing on the agriculture sector, digitisation of economy, financial services and utilisation of data that had vast potential of strengthening the economy.

They also stressed the need to grow exports and expand export base with timely decisions and swift execution, and urged political parties to sit together and come up with a consensus-based charter of economy while putting their differences aside. CEO of Blockchain for All Jimmy Nguyen said financial inclusion, IoT and smart technologies, generative Artificial Intelligence and newly-emerging metaverse tech were four key pillars of future development.

“Future will surely be delivered by the new generation and they should be allowed to explore their potential to build the future while connecting with the past,” he opined. Managing Director of Orbit Startup William Bao Bean termed the technology as a major driver for future building and said that digital technology has the potential to transform people’s lives. He said startups played an important role in the economic development of China and other emerging economies, and those should be promoted in Pakistan as well.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk