(September 23, 2019)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said Pakistan and India are facing a serious threat of climate change which is a greater threat than war.
The devastation of climate change will be more serious than a war between Pakistan and India, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that climate change is no longer a scientific subject but a reality while south Asia remains most vulnerable area in the world but little has been done to tackle it.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the summer and winter are becoming extreme by the passage of time while heat waves have become a norm. Pakistan has faced up to 51 degrees centigrade of heat during last year which is a record, he added.
The former minister noted that the pattern climate and rains are rapidly changing while floods continue to hit masses. Glaciers are melting with a rapid pace damaging the river system.
He noted that Baluchistan and some areas of Sindh faces drought-like situation and dependence on groundwater is increasing, which has become a threat to already low agricultural output.
Air pollution has also emerged as a threat to agriculture, livestock, and masses but little has been done to tackle it.
Pakistan and India are more concerned about their share of water under the Indus water treaty and less concerned about the emerging threat of climate change which has hit tens of millions of people.
Pakistan is the eighth country in the list of nations vulnerable to climate change which calls for immediate action.
