Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has left for Egypt to participate in the “Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit”. PM will co-chair the summit along with his Norwegian counterpart on Tuesday.
This year’s conference of parties (COP27) is set to happen this week in Egypt’s city of Sharm el-Sheikh in November. Global leaders from all over the world will convene in Egypt to discuss cooperative efforts to overcome and mitigate the effects of climate change.
These climate conferences are held every year, on part of the United Nations, to discuss progress on climate change. A lot is riding on these yearly conferences even if they do not amount to much.
This year however has shown some positive signs that the discussions held in climate change conferences will not be reduced to mere dialogue and empty promises alone. Cairo has stated that it plans on getting developed countries to deliver on promises made in Glasgow.
With more than 1500 dead, millions displaced and loss of infrastructure worth billions of rupees, Pakistan has been among the countries most impacted by climate change this year, due to the devastation caused by the floods that the country witnessed this monsoon. It has been perhaps globally acknowledged that the floods were partly due to the high rate of carbon emissions by other countries, the brunt of which was suffered by Pakistan, which has one of the lowest rates of emissions. Countries that suffer the most and have not contributed to the problem, deserve a seat at the head of the table and it is good to see COP recognise that.
Pakistan knows the importance of a change in global behaviour, and we should use that to work with developing countries and get promises delivered. Islamabad had been highlighting the devastating losses caused by the floods at international forums and asking for justice into the matter.
This conference will surely help Pakistan in presenting its case more efficiently before the world that how climate change affected Islamabad.
