Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that following the catastrophic nationwide floods in 2022 and the recent floods in Punjab, climate change is a timely topic.
Bilawal was addressing a seminar on ‘The Urgency of Action: Climate Change and its implications on Human Rights in Pakistan’ hosted by the PPP Human Rights Cell via video-link
Chairman Bilawal said that Pakistan, with its vast landscape and rich history is sadly an epicenter of the climate crisis. The evidence is clear and cannot be ignored, Chairman Bilawal said.
The PPP chairman said that glaciers of the north are receding at alarming rates while the south’s fertile land is giving way to desertification.
Bilawal said “These are not just climate calamities but stories of families and communities of the nation’s fabric being torn apart, where erratic weather spells destroy harvests, relentless floods ravage our homes. It is the heartbeat of our nation, of the common man and woman that suffer the most.”
Pakistan, with its vast landscapes and rich history, is sadly at the epicenter of the climate crisis. The evidence is clear and cannot be ignored. The glaciers in the North are receding at alarming rates, and the south’s once fertile lands are slowly giving way to desertification… pic.twitter.com/TdBK6IgfNc
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) October 11, 2023
He said that let us pause and consider, is it not rather limiting to view this issue as that of melting ice and shifting sands, when this crisis at its core is about the countless people who stand to lose their rights, hopes and futures, the same goes for the marginalised communities who have been pushed further into the peripheries as well as the youth which is inheriting a world that is vastly different.
He said that we will not just draft policies but create holistic solutions adding every environmental measure will inherently prioritise the well-being and rights of the people.
No longer will the most vulnerable communities be passive observers but will play an active and important role in shaping decisions and charting the path forward, he claimed.
We pledge to ensuring that the youth is at the forefront of this transformation. They will play an important role in shaping decisions and charting the path forward.
