COP27 in Egypt: The war against climate change will be won or lost this decade, UN Secretary General
Ishtiaq Ahmed
Islamabad: The Climate Summit has opened in Egypt. We are way behind what needs to be done to rescue our climate and prevent catastrophes awaiting our planet.
No country is doing enough but the developed countries which ought to be resourcing and driving the desired change are to slow to act, lacking in commitment and resolve. USA, for example, is very much held at political ransom by the powerful ‘fossil fuel’ lobby. A similar can be said about other developed nations.
It is against this background that we must assess the likely impact of COP27 climate summit taking place in Egypt. Given the relatively little progress following the COP26 summit in Scotland, the environmental preservation lobby whilst welcoming the meeting of world leaders in Egypt is naturally cautious about its likely outcomes.
The world leaders are faced with two different sets of challenges: Firstly, to get the developed nations to dig deep down into their coffers i.e invest more in alternative sources of energy away from fossil fuels; secondly, to ring fence sufficient resources for the developing countries to protect them against climate-related catastrophes largely contributed by the developed world; thirdly, to support developing countries also to make a transition from fossil fuel to other viable alternative energy sources, particularly as many developing countries are seeking to avail their fossil fuel reserves.
Pakistan is also represented at the COP27 by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Undoubtedly, he will be working closely with the leaders of other developing countries from Africa and Asia to impress on the leaders of the developed world to share a greater burden of action required to safe our planet. Also, he should be lobbying for more international help for the reconstruction of Pakistan following the mass-scale destruction caused by the recent unprecedented flooding.
These are the areas the Prime Minister should be asked to report progress.
In his open address, the Secretary General of UN said, “We are dangerously coming to a point of irreversible change “. He added, “We need to what to do. We have tools to do what is required. What we need is commitment and action. Climate is a human right issue.”
The last paragraph should read:
In his open address, the Secretary General of UN said, “We are dangerously coming to a point of irreversible change “. He added, “We know to what to do. We have tools to do what is required. What we need is commitment and action. Climate is a human right issue.”
The issue of climate change merits urgent actions to reverse its disastrous effects on humanity . The culprits for bringing our planet to this highly dangerous and irreversible point are the most industrialised and developed or developing nations who are using uncontrolled quantity of fossil fuels both for running their industries and transport systems. Also the multinationals gangsters are freely engaged in destroying the forestry a natural source to prevent the adverse effects on climate change. What is required is concerted and determined efforts particularly by those countries who by their sheer greed and careless attitudes are responsible for polluting our beautiful planet. If they fail to make this most important issue as their urgent priority and take the appropriate actions to alleviate the contributory factors, we all may be faced with unprecedented calamity .