PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman has raised alarm over Pakistan ranking as the most affected country by climate change in the latest Climate Risk Index (CRI) by Germanwatch.
Speaking on Saturday, Rehman said, “Training Pakistanis to protect themselves from severe weather is the need of the hour.”
The CRI ranks countries based on the human and economic toll of extreme weather events. According to the February report, Pakistan was ranked the most vulnerable country for 2022, surpassing Belize and Italy.
Sharing the report on her official X page, Rehman stressed the urgent need for climate resilience: “This should serve as a huge wake-up call,” she wrote.
In an extended PPP statement, Rehman expressed regret that Pakistan, despite contributing minimally to global emissions, bears the harshest impacts of climate change. She warned of rising risks from stormy rains, hailstorms, and glacier melting, calling the situation “extremely serious.”
Rehman questioned, “Why should countries like us suffer for the world’s massive carbon use? The time for environmental justice has come.” She emphasized that without true accountability for global warming, developing and poor countries will continue to face devastation.
The senator called for the imposition of an environmental emergency, urgent policy reforms, and increased global aid for Pakistan.
Pakistan witnessed the disastrous effects of climate change in 2022’s historic floods, which affected over 33 million people and claimed more than 1,700 lives. The CRI report attributes a 50% increase in extreme monsoon rainfall severity to climate change.
Additionally, over eight million Pakistanis were displaced, 1.3 million homes were damaged, and communities struggled with drinking water shortages and waterborne diseases like cholera, dengue, malaria, and diarrhoea.
