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ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday called for deeper regional cooperation to achieve sustainable development and build resilience against climate change, describing South Asia as “the frontline of converging crises that threaten both lives and livelihoods.”
“The road to enduring peace and prosperity is paved with sustainable development. Nowhere does this clarion call echo louder than in our region – South Asia, home to nearly two billion souls, a quarter of humanity’s heartbeat,” he said while addressing the 28th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC -2025) here at the Allama Iqbal Open University.
He said South Asia remained a region of immense potential yet profound challenges. “This is a tapestry of boundless human ingenuity and untapped economic dynamism. Yet, despite remarkable strides, over 380 million South Asians remain trapped in multidimensional poverty, and one in three children battles stunting,” he added.
Highlighting the urgency of climate adaptation, he cautioned that “without bold and collective measures, climate shocks could thrust another 40 million people into poverty by 2030.”
Pakistan, he noted, emitted less than one percent of global carbon emissions but continued to suffer some of the world’s most devastating climate impacts. “We bear the heaviest scars – from vanishing Himalayan glaciers and catastrophic floods to unrelenting heatwaves and cyclones,” he said.
Recalling the 2022 floods in Pakistan and more recent disasters across India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, the minister said these events were “harrowing harbingers of climate chaos that recognize no sovereignty.”
He expressed deep concern over the recent floods that wreaked havoc in parts of Pakistan, including his home district Narowal. “Rivers like the Ravi overflowed, submerging vast rice fields and destroying livelihoods,” he said, adding that hundreds of families were displaced and agricultural losses ran into billions of rupees.
The minister shared his personal experience from Narowal, saying, “I met families who had lost not just their crops, but their homes and hopes built over generations. One elderly man, clutching the remnants of his flooded home, looked at me with tears in his eyes – a reminder of what is truly at stake.”