Federal Minister for the Ministry of Climate Change Sherry Rehman has said that Pakistan floods are a wake-up call for the world as the destruction will not be limited to the country over time. She said that Pakistan does not have the capacity to deal with climate change on its own.
Sherry was speaking at a seminar in Islamabad outlining the work of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP27 – a forum where countries develop a framework to battle environmental woes triggered by human indifference.
The federal minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will present the country’s narrative at the confluence of world leaders meeting to discuss environmental issues in November. Sherry lamented that Pakistan is on the frontline of a disaster that was not initiated by it. “This year we were home to the hottest location in the world,” she stated, adding that the country faces multifarious challenges related to climate change.
Pertaining to the dilemma faced by the flood victims, the minister noted that the affectees will now bear the brunt of low winter temperatures. “260 million people, more than the combined population of Switzerland and Portugal, are waiting for aid in Pakistan,” the minister pointed out while outlining the scale of the humanitarian crisis. She further said that it will take decades for the country to revert damages incurred by the recent super floods. “It requires a lot of funds.”—NNI
