National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Wednesday said that global climate change was a major threat to the planet and future generations. Addressing the closing ceremony of Third Inter-Parliamentary Union Regional Seminar on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals for Parliaments of Asia-Pacific, he thanked the member countries for showing unwavering solidarity with the people of Pakistan in the current difficult time. The speaker termed the move of the National Assembly of Pakistan a resounding success to make members of the Asia-Pacific region agreed for presenting an emergency resolution at the forthcoming IPU General Assembly in Rwanda.

Unwavering solidarity that all participating countries have expressed in support of the resilient people of Pakistan stands tall in an exemplary and united effort to face the devastation caused by the recent floods. the speaker added. He informed the participants of the event that Pakistan faced record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains that triggered floods, which had killed more than 1,391 people; displaced 33 million people; swept away houses, roads, railway tracks, bridges, livestock and crops. The speaker said that the Climate Change Risk Index of 2021 reports that Pakistan ranked eighth among countries most vulnerable to climate crisis despite contributing less than 1% to global carbon emissions.Pakistan is paying a heavy price for climate change, he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP