Sherry Calls For Concerted Efforts To Deal With Climate Change Impacts

News Desk

Karachi: Pakistan is facing multifaceted issues like terrorism on its borders, economic challenges, and above all, the serious implications of climate change, and multi-pronged strategies besides the investment of billions of dollars are required to deal with the situation.

These views were expressed by the Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman in Karachi at the opening session of the sixth edition of ‘The Future Summit’ on Wednesday

The summit was held under the theme ‘Prepare for Disruption’ to discuss challenges facing Pakistan, and to consider the future footprint and required readiness to deal with them. It was jointly organised by Nutshell Conferences Group and Engro Corporation in collaboration with the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) and Habib Bank.

The climate change minister stressed collaborative efforts to deal with the multifaceted impacts of climate change and urged investors to invest in climate-resilient development projects.

Sherry termed the record-breaking rains and floods as a wakeup call from nature that affected millions of people and a vast area of the country. She said that nothing was going back to be normal as it was not business as usual.

Pakistan as well as South Asia and even the entire world had not to make any mistakes; they could happen again and destruction would come again and again, as if one echo system failed and was followed by the other, she stressed.

Sherry went on to say that the world is entering an accelerated phase of warming, with rising temperatures, and that Pakistan has been the hottest place on the planet in summer for the last three years.

She observed, on the other hand, that the Indus River is the world’s second most plastic-choked river, with an annual prevalence of 38 million metric tonnes of plastic.

It is a non-traditional risk to the overall economy, she said, quoting a country report by the World Bank that pointed out the serious consequences of climate change for Pakistan and the short, medium, and long-term measures required to deal with the threats.

The concept of climate change resilience is now closely associated with development and both could not be separated anyway, Rehman stressed.

Crucial Role of Business Sector

Sherry said that climate resilience measures in all the relevant sectors, ranging from education and awareness to preparedness and mitigation, would require a huge investment of $348 billion by 2030. She said that industries and business entities, whether large or small, contributed over 70 percent of pollution over the last 100 years, and now businesses have to take the lead in mitigation measures as well.

The minister  reiterated that the government realised that eradication of the impacts of climate change could not be done in a vacuum and that all stakeholders, including the government, have to respond well in time.

Rehmanurged investors to invest in climate resilience and development projects. She further urged that businesses, while working in partnerships and joint ventures, should contribute to measures for net zero Pakistan, promote green financing, properly report SDG compliance, adopt recycling protocols, discourage extended use of plastic, be transparent in their carbon footprint, invest in sustainability, and impart awareness.

Earlier, businessmen and other stakeholders stated that millions of young students could be trained in coding skills for earning much-needed foreign exchange in short terms while focusing on the agriculture sector, the digitisation of the economy, and financial services and the utilisation of data, all of which had vast potential for strengthening the economy.

They also stressed the need for growing exports and expanding export bases with timely decisions and swift execution, and urged political parties to sit down together and come up with a consensus-based economic charter while putting their differences aside.

Four Key Pillars of Development

Blockchain for All Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Jimmy Nguyen said that financial inclusion, internet of things (IoT) and smart technologies, generative artificial intelligence, and the newly emerging metaverse technology are four key pillars of future development, and that technology serves as a bridge between banks and businesses and helps grow trade.

The future will surely be delivered by the new generation, and they should be allowed to explore their potential to build the future while connecting with the past, Jimmy opined.

Orbit Starts Up Managing Director William Bao Bean termed the technology a major driver for future building and said that digital technology had the potential to transform the lives of people.

Bean said that startups played an important role in the economic development of China and other emerging economies, and those should be promoted in Pakistan as well.