Sherry calls for urgent action to combat climate change

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the Senate Sherry Rehman on Thursday emphasised the need for immediate and genuine action to tackle climate change.

Senator Sherry Rehman, the chief guest at the “Road to Climate Resilient Pakistan: Reducing Our Carbon Footprint” conference, hosted by Islamic Relief Pakistan and the National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), said climate is one conversation that must connect from local to global because climate knows no barriers when it changes.

“It can impact people and communities anywhere in the world. We have just seen a cyclone hit Bangladesh, floods in Brazil and Afghanistan,” she added.

Rehman said Pakistan, too, is in the middle of a debilitating, scorching heatwave. “Mohenjo Daro was recorded as the planet’s hottest place with 53 degrees centigrade. Do we need to remind the world that temperatures like such don’t support human life?” she said.

Speaking about Pakistan’s transition to renewable energy, the PPP leader said that the country’s transition from fossil fuels is quite doable. “We have a large amount of solar capacity and a huge amount of wind capacity, particularly all the way through the Sindh’s coastal areas. Part of the problem is our aging grid, which cannot take on a great deal of renewables anymore because there is no space and also the incentive structures that are in place for solarization.”

She also highlighted the country’s vulnerability to climate impacts, stating, Pakistan is home to the largest number of glaciers outside the North Pole, with approximately 7,000 glaciers, and they are melting rapidly.

“When glacial lake outburst floods occur, the first to be affected are the small and medium hydro plants, which are vital for the community. While we mitigate risk by educating communities on how to relocate during such outbursts, the infrastructure, including hydro plants, bridges, and roads, often sustains severe damage,” she said, adding that this necessitates continuous efforts in reinvention, rehabilitation, rebuilding, and restoration, which are challenging to maintain.

She said resilience is not a one-size-fits-all definition or challenge, like adaptation, it needs to reflect the particular needs of the local community and the terrain it is addressing.

Sherry Rehman said there is a convergence between developing resilience and reducing your carbon footprint. “If Pakistan reduces its carbon footprint to zero, there will still be scorching global warming.”

She said the fossil fuel industry worldwide is well on its trajectory to 2.5 to 3 degrees centigrade. “Our mitigation commitment is to reduce our fiscal dependence on imported dirty fuel, leveraging our resources to reduce local pollution and make our contribution to the global commitment on carbon footprint reduction,” she said. She asserted that it is very important for countries, companies, communities, and individuals to start looking at their carbon footprint.

She emphasised the financial challenges associated with climate action, stating: “Adaptation costs four times more than normal development spending, and as the World Bank’s assessment indicates, Pakistan needs $348 billion by 2030, with $196 billion dedicated to mitigation. These figures underline the immense financial challenge of adaptation and mitigation.”

Regarding public and private financing, she said: “While there is often a call to unlock private financing as a solution, it is essential to acknowledge that private financing alone may not suffice.”

She said private financing typically seeks profits, and in disaster situations, investing in disaster zones may not always align with profit motives, therefore, relying solely on private financing overlooks the need for robust public funding mechanisms. “It is imperative to ensure that public funds are accessible and efficiently utilised, especially in vulnerable countries like Pakistan,” she added.

She further said there should be concerted efforts to streamline the process of accessing climate financing, reducing bureaucratic barriers, and ensuring that funds reach communities in a timely manner. “This is not a victim conversation. Seeking an entitlement is never a victim conversation, either from your own government, your community, or the global north,” she added.