Pakistan faces deeper social instability without climate action plan, says Rehman

ISLAMABAD:Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday took charge of the Climate Change Ministry.

Minister Sherry Rehman said, Climate Change is a very important and serious issue, particularly in developing countries such as Pakistan. So far approximately 80% of the urban population lack access to clean drinking water.

The minister said what we have seen so far are headless climate change ministries that fail to blip on the federal government’s own policy radar. We need to rethink our policies and coordinate priorities quickly, said a news release. She continued, First and foremost, a policy roadmap beyond planting trees is needed. At the same time public awareness and community buy-in is crucial if we are to combat climate change as a nation. We need the ministries priorities and policies to focus on all key challenges, particularly the terrible damage caused by waste and pollution of all resources.

Our population needs to be made aware of the ever-increasing danger we face at the hands of climate change. We as a society don t really understand that Pakistan will be threatened by even deeper social instability than it faces today without a public plan that focuses on action.

She said We must consider the extreme potential of social destabilization that compounding vulnerabilities pose to the future, both immediate and medium-term. It is unfortunate that for 3.5 years our former government only focused on the Billion Tree Project. We are not abandoning the tree plantation project, however, our policies need to be more than that if we are to improve the quality of life.

The minister said she would present a climate change policy to the cabinet and advocating strongly for instituting a climate change council within 100 days which will maximize policy communication, input and coordination amongst the provinces on this existential risk to our country and its future.-

She said the pollution of our water and air, temperature rise, have caused incalculable costs to the country, to its soil, to its people and exposed us to disease and vulnerability. Whilst the potential cost of climate inaction is varied, the estimated consensus is a shocking $3.8 billion annually. It is a painful irony of climate change that those least responsible for the problem are often the ones most exposed to its ravages, she added.

Rehman said while Pakistan contributes only 6% of the world's emissions, yet it is one of the countries consistently ranked amongst the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change.