Holistic approach, financial commitments needed to tackle climate change, says PM

(Karachi) Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that a holistic approach and financial commitments are needed to tackle climate change.

Sharing an article published in The Times on his Twitter handle, Imran pointed towards the risks Pakistan is facing due to climate change.

He wrote in the article that the monsoon season in Pakistan is a time of hope and fear. He said, "Hope because the rains irrigate our farmlands and refresh our cities after the intense summer heat."

He mentioned that last summer Pakistan experienced the heaviest rains in a century, with an unprecedented cloudburst leaving much of the sprawling metropolis of Karachi inundated, rendering thousands homeless and over a hundred dead.

He said that Pakistan is used to coping with heavy monsoon rains, but 2020 was unexpectedly intense, and scientists tell us this will become increasingly common as our planet warms.

Earlier speaking at World Economic Forum's strategic dialogue, the PM had stated that climate change is one of the defining global challenges faced by our generation. He said it has far-reaching adverse economic, social, and political impacts.

The prime minister maintained that the world is already witnessing unprecedented floods, severe droughts, increasing heat waves, spreading wildfires, and fierce cyclonic activity.

"All of these pose a clear and present danger for humanity. While no country is immune from these impacts of climate change, most developing countries remain disproportionately affected by its negative impacts," he mentioned.

He stated that Pakistan is a case in point, as it lies at the geographic crossroads of melting glaciers, unpredictably shifting monsoons, and enhanced disaster activity triggered by climate change.

He called for an urgent need for simultaneously raising ambition for climate action, while also building resilience and adapting to the inescapable impacts of climate change.