Federal Minister Senator Sherry Rehman was called upon by Mr. Thomas Seiler, Chargé d’Affaires of the EU in Islamabad to discuss the EU’s support for Climate Change. She stressed that “the issue of climate change is a cross-cutting national issue that needs immediate action. The country faces an urgency for climate financing and policy frameworks that are more aligned to the current economic conditions of the country”
Furthermore, she made it a point to highlight the vulnerable groups of the country who have been plagued by the consequences of climate change, “A common man, who is having a hard time putting food on the table, would not understand or prioritize climate action. There is very little public awareness, to begin with, and we must protect the vulnerable groups. For a stable energy transition policy, we need to incentivize the general public towards renewable energy, among other things.”
Stressing the need for resourcing a long term energy-transition policy, she reiterated, “We are prioritizing unglamorous, yet important actions. We need a sound transition policy, which would help in reducing our exorbitant oil & coal import bills. We also need to look at a net zero ambition and move towards reducing biodiversity losses. Technical capacity for creating carbon tax regimes, climate financing frameworks are also huge gaps in our policy mix.”
Discussing the ministry’s current challenges, Minister Rehman said, “We have been dealing with the heatwave and its associated emergencies, mainly water stress and its impact on agriculture. In addition to that, heatwaves have aggravated forest fires and consumed a lot of our resources including manpower. The new task force was set up to deal with the accelerating climate crisis in the country. However, no legislation or behavior policing can work without citizens’ buy-in. “
In conclusion, she talked about the Climate Council that would soon be chaired by the PM and would include all chief ministers, other stakeholders, experts, and civil society organizations. “The Council would level up the agenda of climate and with the continued commonality of approach, we can come up with coordinated policy momentum.”
