Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has said that vibrant parliamentary diplomacy can harness the challenges of global climate change.
Talking to Australian High Commissioner Neil Hawkins the NA Speaker lauded the role of Pakistan-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group in promoting parliamentary diplomacy and enhancing parliamentary relations through parliamentary exchanges.
He also said that further delay in disbursement of pledged funds for miseries of flood victims could result in irreparable damage to the cause of achieving a cleaner and greener world for all.
The meeting was aimed to garner the support of the IPU’s African Member Parliaments for the National Assembly’s proposal of the creation of a global climate fund through a passage of a resolution in the forthcoming 145th IPU Assembly in Rwanda from October 15, 2022.
Speaker underscored that climate change was one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. He also said that it had played havoc in Pakistan as millions of people had lost their lives and livelihoods. “Today it is Pakistan but tomorrow it can be any other country,” he added.
The speaker made it clear that Islamabad was not seeking aid or
assistance but the rightful share. He raised the question that why Pakistan would bear the brunt of climate change, caused by the actions of ‘big polluters.’
He mentioned that National Assembly had already dispatched letters to all African parliaments with a request to back Assembly’s proposal, not only for the benefit of Pakistan but also for their own benefit as well.
He urged the emissaries to play their due role in the struggle for climate justice. The meeting ended on an agreement that “climate change is a global problem and warrants global solution through collective efforts.” The meeting was attended by delegates from Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Somalia & Libya.
