Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday stressed the need for formulating a comprehensive roadmap and strategy to overcome the challenges posed by climate change in view of the human and economic losses caused by the ongoing floods in the country.

“We cannot deal with climate change overnight,” he said while chairing a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, adding that Pakistan cannot tackle the challenge alone and that everyone has to unite to do so, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

The monsoon floods this year have caused widespread devastation across Pakistan, affecting 4.2 million people, 1.58m animals, and more than 4,400 villages across Punjab alone, as per a report by the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

“Thousands of Pakistanis have lost lives in these floods,” PM Shehbaz said during the federal cabinet meeting, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

He added that an apex level meeting will follow the cabinet meeting to be attended by the four chief ministers to formulate a policy to cope with the current situation.

He said the federation is contributing its share, emphasising the provincial governments will also have to contribute, the report added.

He continued that a committee headed by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal is also being constituted to deal with the situation arising out of floods.

He further said the federal cabinet will announce “climate and agriculture emergency” after consultations.

He spoke about his recent visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, saying that the “event culminated in $8.5 billion worth of joint ventures and memorandums of understanding”. PM Shehbaz said the planning minister Ahsan Iqbal will be visiting China on the 26th of this month for the formal launch of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s (CPEC) second phase (CPEC 2.0).

He said CPEC 2.0 will cover cooperation in agriculture and mines and minerals as well as business-to-business investments and special economic zones. For Karakoram Highway, he said Chinese investment will be 85 per cent, while that of Pakistan will be 15pc.

PM Shehbaz stated that American companies would also invest in the exploration of mines and minerals sector in Pakistan by using modern technology. He added that Pakistan has been keen on improving ties with the US, besides strengthening strategic partnership with China.

The premier also paid tribute to Major Adnan Aslam who embraced martyrdom while fighting with Fitna al Khawarij operatives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to terrorists.

PM Shehbaz “strongly condemned the propaganda by certain elements against armed forces and its leadership”, emphasising that it is “our collective national and political responsibility to confront and counter such actions”, as per Radio Pakistan.