Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for action against climate change that has caused cataclysmic floods in Pakistan as he said that "it’s time to act, act now.” The prime minister was addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS), where he spoke about the climate catastrophe that has devastated Pakistan and killed hundreds. The prime minister added that the floods — which have caused damages amounting to billions of dollars — make Pakistan look likea sea of water. The devastating floods in Pakistan are most definitely climate change- induced. It is the result of climate change, cloud outbursts, and unprecedented rains, combined with hill torrents coming down. All this put together makes Pakistan look like a sea of water, the premier said.

Noting that he has never seen this kind of devastation before, the premier called on the organisation to build a wall” against the menace of climate change. The premier stressed that the SCO should make a plan for the coming generations. PM Shehbaz, along with leaders of the eight-member SCO, attended the close-format CHS at the Congress Centre, where he was welcomed by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Uzbek President Mirziyoyev, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the session.

Record monsoon rains in the south and southwest Pakistan and glacial melt in northern parts triggered the flooding that has impacted nearly 33 million people in the 220 million South Asian nation, sweeping away homes, crops, bridges, roads and livestock in damages estimated at $30 billion. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported 1,508 deaths including 536 children and 308 women. Hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced are in dire need of support in terms of food, shelter, clean drinking water, toilets, and medicines. Many have been sleeping in the open by the side of elevated highways, with water-borne diseases spreading among people and affecting thousands.

The torrential monsoon, which submerged huge swathes of Pakistan, was a one in a hundred-year event likely made more intense by climate change, scientists said on Thursday. Big mistake At the outset of his speech, the prime minister noted that it was imperative to ensure that peace prevailed in Afghanistan as peace in Kabul meant there would be peace in Islamabad. The premier added that it would be a "big mistake" to ignore Afghanistan this time around as the Taliban-ruled nation battles terrorism and poverty. “As you know Pakistan is a neighbouring country of Afghanistan, and peace in Afghanistan will ensure peace in Pakistan. In other words, what is good for Afghanistan, is good for Pakistan and vice versa, he said. The prime minister said that the global community should work to support good initiatives in the war-torn country. Fight this menace of extremism, separatism and terrorism and wipe it from the face of this earth, the prime minister said, urging the SCO members to join hands for this goal.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP