ISLAMABAD, Sept 12 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that climate change has emerged as one of the most potent challenges facing the world.
The flood catastrophe that Pakistan was experiencing was climate-induced, the Prime Minister said, adding, the massive economic damage on top of the economic crisis had undermined Pakistan’s capacity to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He asked the international community to step forward and help Pakistan deal with this calamity of epic proportions.
The Prime Minister was talking to President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Duarte Pacheco, who called on him here at PM House.
Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Special Assistants to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi and Ms. Romina Khursheed Alam were also present on the occasion.
The Prime Minister asked the Inter-Parliamentary Union to play its role in raising awareness about the horrors of climate change and help mobilize global support for the developing countries facing the climate crisis due to global warming.
He said that the world should pursue climate justice as an ideal to deal with the threat, which was real and redefining their lives.
The Prime Minister said that despite its shortcomings, democracy was still the best system in the world that was a vehicle to realize people’s aspirations. He termed fake news as one of the major challenges facing democracy.
He mentioned the worst human rights abuses in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), particularly after August 5, 2019, and said that the violation of fundamental human rights had exposed the so-called democratic face of India.
President of IPU, Duarte Pacheco expressed condolence on the loss of precious human lives during the recent floods and expressed his grief over the massive havoc caused to the infrastructure across the country.
He supported Pakistan’s case with respect to climate change and stressed upon the developed countries to make strategy to control the carbon emissions.
Duarte Pacheco appreciated the National Assembly of Pakistan for organizing the 3rd IPU Regional Seminar of Asia Pacific Region on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals. He said that the event would help synergize regional efforts to achieve SDGs.
Later, the Prime Minister in a tweet said that in his meeting with Mr. Duarte Pacheco, President of Inter-Parliamentary Union, a representative body of 178 Parliaments, he underscored how fake news posed a threat to democracy. “Together with fabrication, it can rob people of their democratic rights & violate human rights,” he added.
