THE recent volley of statements by our leaders blaming G-20 countries solely for the recent floods in Pakistan is the proverbial ostrich response. The climate change and its effects are well known, documented and predicted long ago. Still, officials at relevant ministries and departments did not plan a short-term or long-term strategy to combat and mitigate its effects.

Mere statements and blaming others for all our misfortunes will not take us anywhere. Perhaps our leaders are jumping on this bandwagon for foreign aid, and not for resolving this issue. We should also understand that we have credibility issues regarding foreign aid spending. We have to be brave, honest, sincere and innovative to deal with this climate change threat to the country.

It does not matter who caused it; it has been there for a long time and we are bound to deal with it intelligently, with our full force and on a war footing at the national level immediately.

Let us shun our naivety, come out of our slumber quickly and start working hard.

Dr Arshad Saeed
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2022