ISLAMABAD: During her keynote address at the global climate conference under Dawn Media’s ‘Breathe Pakistan’ initiative on Thursday, Senator Sherry Rehman emphasized several critical points regarding Pakistan’s climate future and its vision for 2047.
Rehman warned that climate denialism is resurfacing in Pakistan and many other countries. This resurgence of denialism reflects an “epistemic arrogance” where people believe climate change won’t affect them personally or that they are not responsible for it.
She highlighted three major challenges facing the country, one of which involves viewing climate change as an external problem rather than a domestic issue requiring immediate attention.
The conference aims to make Pakistan climate-resilient by 2047 through regional cooperation across South Asia. Rehman emphasized the need to transform Pakistan’s relationship with water, given that all major cities are situated along the Indus River but contribute significantly to its pollution.
Rehman stressed that addressing the water and food security nexus is crucial for building resilience in Pakistan, as it faces significant challenges related to water scarcity and pollution.
“Pakistan needs to change its relationship with water,” Rehman emphasised, noting that “all of Pakistan’s cities are clustered around the Indus River”. “And all of them dump toxic affluent into that river.
“We are, I think, managing only 1pc of our solid waste water,” the senator said, urging media publications to “start putting [such stories] on page 2 at least”.
Quoting Power Minister Awais Leghari, Rehman said: “Pakistan’s energy mix is now 55 per cent renewable. […] It’s a big statement to make. I can sort of break that down and disaggregate it but I think the media needs to ask inconvenient questions from all of us.”
Former climate minister highlighted that climate change knew no borders: Climate change, like it or not, goes from global to local. It knows no borders.“