ISLAMABAD: Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman on Wednesday released a documentary that depicted changing climate as the biggest challenge of the 21st century.

In the short documentary running over two minutes, Senator Sherry Rehman described climate change as a global crisis that had engulfed the entire world.

“Our country Pakistan is at the forefront of this global crisis. Climate change is causing our glaciers to melt faster and our rivers are drying up. If we do not save our rivers, our country will be in drought by the year 2025,” Sherry Rehman, who speaks as the narrator in the documentary, said.

She urged people to take precautionary measures from today, adding that, “if we do not mitigate the effects of climate change, the crisis will become a threat to the future of our country and future generations. Let’s all work together to protect the natural environment of this land,” Ms Rehman said.

The video captured emissions from factory chimneys, polluted rivers, forest fires and melting glaciers.

She urged viewers to acknowledge the terrible fact that Pakistan was faced with the challenges of altering climate, loss of natural habitat and ever-increasing pollution simultaneously.

“Unnatural and unprecedented rise in temperatures, heatwaves, frequent forest fires, drought and smog are some of the phenomena happening in our lifetimes,” she said.

Jacobabad, Dadu and Turbat have been the warmest places on Earth for three consecutive years. Rise in temperatures triggered glacial lake outburst in the Shisper glacier, causing flash flood that washed away properties and endangered lives and livelihood downstream,” she said.

Describing the rivers as assets that ensured food security, the documentary emphasised on conserving water.

The film also informs viewers that Pakistan’s global carbon foot print was less than 1pc, still it was ranked among the top five most vulnerable countries in the world due to the negative impacts of global warming.

The minister called on the citizens to play their part in conserving the environment for the future generations.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2022