LAHORE: A thought-provoking session, titled ‘Loss, Damage and Climate Reparations: Growing Inequalities and the Need for Economic and Climate Justice,’ attracted a large number of audience on the first day of the Asma Jahangir Conference being held at a private hotel on the Egerton Road.

The session was moderated by environmental lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam who is also a member of the Pakistan Climate Change Council. In his opening remarks, Mr Alam termed greenhouse gases emissions the cause of changing climate, rising temperatures and imbalance in environment while adding that rains were the outcome of global warming. He said 2022 floods had left Pakistan with USD 34bn damage. The capitalist’s countries responsible for heavy greenhouse gases emissions were not rectifying the situation by any means, he lamented.

MNA and former parliamentary secretary for climate change Naz Baloch said Pakistan should be called the third pole of the world being home to 7,000 glaciers. Terming the impact of global warming serious, she said the 2022 floods had caused about USD 40bn loss to the country.

Ms Naz said it was important to highlight that Global South and Global North had a gap of understanding as the developed countries were spending on war but not on climate change. “Pakistan is an agricultural country that’s why the 2022 floods damaged it a lot in various aspects while farmers’ livestock was washed out.

The developed countries are contributing to carbon emissions,” she declared.

“We must think it over. It’s about the survival of the planet and ecosystem,” said Baloch.

Another panelist Baba Jan, a civil rights and climate change activist from Gilgit, regretted that forests were being cut without any limits and housing societies were being built. Capitalists in Pakistan have made restaurants and hotels even in lakes, he lamented.

“The capitalist countries are damaging the planet far more by emitting greenhouse gases. Mother Nature is being damaged,” he added.

Former Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam said humanity had been given a death warrant in the shape of climate change as it was a war on nature, which was reacting.

“There are eight such countries of the world which are emitting 85pc greenhouse gases whereas Pakistan has less than one percent share of such emissions, the USA has 40pc contribution to greenhouse gases.”

He termed the International Loss and Damage Fund not more than a lollipop.

Farooq Tariq, the general secretary of Kissan Rabita Committee and president of Haqooq-i- Khalq Party, was of the view that the Israeli attack on the Palestinians was also a fatal side of climate change. To add insult to the injury, the capitalist countries are supporting Israel, he lamented.

“We condemn all such countries vehemently,” he added.

Mr Tariq said Pakistan demanded compensation of flood losses from the capitalist countries and added that Covid and climate change had thrown about R20m people of Pakistan into further poverty.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024