Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Thursday said environmental degradation was emerging as a national security threat for Pakistan as it was paying a disproportionate price for climate change impacts derived by the developed world.
Federal Minister for Climate Change in her exclusive chat with APP said the glacial lakes outburst floods and heatwave were certain incidents that were predicted through advisories released in February by the relevant departments where the last alert was issued by the Ministry of Climate Change.
Sherry said the World Bank has mentioned that climate induced disasters were causing 4-6% of the country’s GDP which was a huge sum that needed to be preserved through timely interventions.
She said the developed world has done injustice and ignored the third world particularly Pakistan that as bearing the burden of their environment damaging development.
She said plantation was necessary but not the only solution to cope with the whooping impacts of global warming, adding, “Adaptation is also necessary to be spearheaded at the individual and community levels and create awareness among the masses to deal with global warming”.
Senator Rehman said the country also needed to focus on energy transition to clean energy mix. “The Ministry of Climate Change will recommend adaptation measures at the national level and start mass awareness campaign on it”.
She added that there was need to bring lifestyle change as the elite of the country was responsible for wasting water graciously which was a matter of serious concern.
“Climate mitigation is done by developed countries but the Southern region of the world was focusing on adaptation which is equally important”.
She informed that the Ministry was engaging with the corporate sector to shun the use of plastic bags and shift over renewable eco-friendly alternatives.
Minister warned that the glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) and heatwaves would particularly have serious health impacts which should be tackled amicably by the respective governments.
Environmentalist urges governments to declare ‘Climate Emergency’ for addressing heatwave: Chairperson Subh-e-Nau, Shahida Kausar Farooq, an NGO working for environmental issues, on Thursday, appealed to the federal and provincial governments to immediately impose an environment emergency in the country to deal with the devastating effects of global warming in Cholistan, Gwadar and Dera Bugti areas.
In a statement, Mrs Farooq said that environmentalists around the world have been warning for decades that global warming could cause sudden changes in the weather around the world.
It was being predicted that changes would happen and the world might face famine as a result, she noted, In addition, she[Shahida Farooq] also added that “the warmest months of April and May have made these predictions come true”, “We need to take revolutionary steps today,” she said. Urging to understand the responsibilities related to changing weather patterns, she lamented that “Animals are dying of thirst in the famine-stricken areas. We need to change our priorities and take immediate steps to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing weather patterns.” She said that glaciers were melting due to extreme heat, which could lead to floods in the country.
She urged the Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman to take notice of this situation.
