Sherry Rehman calls on the international community to “clearly” Senator Sherry Rehman, Minister of Climate Change, has called for a clear re-set of the global climate agenda, equitable resourcing of change, new goals, and an accelerated pace of operationalization of pledges made, as well as new ambitions that address the needs of developing countries, before the COP 27 in November. a reset of the climate agenda.
The minister spoke at the Petersburg Ministerial Climate Dialogue on multilateral climate negotiations, which was co-hosted by Egypt and Germany and emphasized Pakistan’s extraordinary vulnerability to accelerated climate-induced disasters, which have exposed it to a slew of threats.
Climate disasters in Pakistan, according to Rehman, include exceptional heat waves, forest fires, glacial lake outburst floods, rapidly approaching water scarcity, torrential monsoon flooding, growing desertification and droughts, and rising sea levels. According to Rehman, all of these changes have made Pakistan the perfect example of all of the tragedies that come with climate stress, with life on Earth being impacted at exponential levels. “Damage to agricultural productivity, livelihoods, human health, and economic stability have led to irreversible impacts including massive internal displacements as well as GDP losses that go as high as 9.1%,” she said while referring to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific findings.
Despite Pakistan’s efforts to reach mitigation targets, she argued that there was a lack of recognition of loss and damage as a fundamental agenda item at the multilateral level.
The minister underlined that the global south was looking for a strong financial mechanism to help it achieve its goals, one that went beyond pledges and promises.
Rehman said, “The situation is existential, and if it is not addressed fairly, history will remember this as modernity’s broken promise”.
She went on to say that if this chance to repair the faulty climate system was squandered, “we would have gravely failed our future and the survival of both our planet and the human race.”
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
