ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday said Pakistan, with its vast landscape and rich history, was the epicentre of climate crisis and the evidence was clear and could not be ignored.

He was speaking at a seminar on ‘The Urgency of Action: Climate Change and its Implications on Human Rights in Pakistan’ hosted by the PPP Human Rights Cell via video link.

“Glaciers of the north are receding at alarming rates. The south’s fertile land is giving way to desertification. These are not just climate calamities but stories of families and communities of the nation’s fabric being torn apart, where erratic weather spells destroy harvests and relentless floods ravage our homes,” he said.

“Following the catastrophic nationwide floods in 2022 and the recent floods in Punjab, climate change was a timely topic,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari said, adding that these challenges transcended party lines and resonated with every person who called Pakistan home and in many ways, every inhabitant of the planet.

“We are living in an age of unparalleled change and nowhere is this change more palpable than in the realms of climate and societal structures. These two might seem distinct at the outset but they are intrinsically linked, forming the very fabric of our current challenges,” he said.

The former foreign minister said access to clean air and safe drinking water were not luxuries but basic human rights, which were as essential as freedom of speech, promise of good education and assurance of a fair trial.

Other speakers included PPP Human Rights Cell President Farhatullah Babar and former climate change minister PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman.

Ms Rehman said: “We are not the cause of global warming. Global warming causes heat waves and climate change affects human rights.”

“Rich countries and rich people are the last to be affected by the effects of climate change, the poor are the first to be affected,” she added.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023