Pakistan(National Times)- Climate experts and policymakers on Thursday stressed the need for collective action, regional cooperation, and innovation to tackle the escalating climate crisis. Speaking at a session titled \u201cCommemorating the 100th Anniversary of Pakistan in 2047: A Vision for Climate Resilience & Climate Justice\u201d, they highlighted the urgency of addressing climate change through collaboration, innovation, and effective communication. The session was part of a two-day global climate conference aimed at making Pakistan climate-resilient by 2047 while fostering regional cooperation across South Asia. The region faces shared challenges, including rising temperatures, water scarcity, and increasing natural disasters. Former climate change minister Sherry Rehman warned against the resurgence of climate \u201cdenialism,\u201d stressing that climate change is a borderless crisis requiring immediate action. \u201cIn Pakistan, and in many countries, climate denialism is coming back\u2014shaping our responses and creating an epistemic arrogance that it won\u2019t happen to us,\u201d she said. \u201cBut who will take responsibility?\u201d Rehman identified three major challenges for Pakistan, including the tendency to view climate change as an external issue. She pointed out the lack of global media coverage of Pakistan\u2019s environmental disasters, such as the 2022 monsoon floods and the wildfires in Balochistan that burned thousands of acres of pine cone forests. She underscored the importance of media engagement in climate discourse, stating, \u201cIf legacy media makes climate and environmental issues central to the conversation, we\u2019re halfway there.\u201d Rehman also cited Power Minister Awais Leghari\u2019s announcement that Pakistan\u2019s energy mix is now 55% renewable, calling it a \u201cbig statement\u201d while urging the media to hold leaders accountable by asking \u201cinconvenient questions\u201d. LUMS Vice Chancellor Ali Cheema presented alarming data on rising temperatures, warning that by 2050, Pakistan could experience an additional month of temperatures exceeding 37\u00b0C, posing severe risks to public health and agriculture. Cheema highlighted how early industrialising nations grew without facing climate constraints, whereas today\u2019s developing countries must contend with a human-made global crisis. He traced the historical evolution of climate change, linking industrialisation to rising carbon dioxide emissions and global temperatures. In her keynote address, Valerie Hickey, the World Bank\u2019s global director for climate change, emphasised the need for clearer climate communication. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we just talk about the weather?\u201d she asked, noting the gap in how climate challenges are discussed with experts versus farming communities. \u201cToo often, we say the same thing to both audiences, and neither understands. Communication is the original sin of the climate community.\u201d LUMS professor Ijaz Nabi also stressed the need to mainstream climate action and enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan(National Times)- Climate experts and policymakers on Thursday stressed the need for collective action, regional cooperation, and innovation to tackle the escalating climate crisis. Speaking at a session titled \u201cCommemorating the 100th Anniversary of Pakistan in 2047: A Vision for Climate Resilience & Climate Justice\u201d, they highlighted the urgency of addressing climate change through collaboration, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n