The non-governmental organization Pakistan Commission for Human Rights organized a national round table conference on climate justice

Islamabad, December 7: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a non-governmental organization, organized a national roundtable on climate justice, calling for a new social contract in the wake of the devastating effects of the 2022 floods. A need based on climate justice. Which means that climate change is not just an environmental issue but a moral, legal and political issue.

Inaugurating the round table conference, HRCP Secretary General Haris Khaliq mentioned the negative impact of climate change on people’s lives and livelihoods, citing the recent floods. He emphasized the need to make environmental rights an integral part of the list of human rights and said that both short-term and long-term solutions must be found to ensure delivery of climate justice. Conference participants said that Protection of environmental rights is essential to truly enjoy basic rights such as the right to life, livelihood, housing, sanitation, health, food, water and clean air.

General (retd) Nadeem Ahmed, former head of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and National Adviser to the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, emphasized that food, shelter, sanitation, water and health are essential during emergency response. Caring should be a priority. The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, Sammy Ezedi, said that local government is essential to bring about change at the grassroots level.

Indus Earth Trust CEO Shahid Saeed emphasized the need for short-term measures to reduce the psychological trauma of the victims. Educationist Brigadier (retd) Dr. Ijaz Hussain Shah said that there is a need to formulate strategies at all levels to deal with the problem of climate change, and for this purpose NDMA, Ministry of Climate Change and Ministry of Planning. Close communication between them is very important. Aafia Salam, a journalist who monitors environmental issues, said with reference to the recent floods of 2022 that there is a need to work not only to deal with natural disasters, but also to be active in reducing the chances of disasters. Will be.

He further said that risks and shortcomings should be evaluated from the perspective of human rights and attention should be paid to overcoming gender discrimination and providing better resources to the youth during the efforts to deal with the disaster. Educationist Zaigham Abbas pointed out that there is a system of traditional knowledge at the lower levels of society that needs to be harnessed to successfully face climate change, while Saif Jamali from the Jinnah Institute responded to disasters. Emphasized the need to benefit from social wisdom so that the knowledge and wisdom that has grown up in the society for centuries has a prominent status.

Concluding the discussion of the conference, Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman pointed to the fact that every crisis affects the most marginalized sections like the recent floods affected women and children. He further said that science skills must be prioritized, policies must be adopted that are grounded in objective facts, and country-level plans must be developed to deal with climate change.