Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be the vice-chairman for the upcoming United Nations climate change conference, known as COP27.
Sharif has been invited to co-chair the COP27 by Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah Al Sisi following Pakistan’s efforts of raising awareness about climate change in the wake of the recent catastrophic floods in the country that affected millions of people. The summit is scheduled to take place in Sharm Al Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6-18.
Experts believe that Pakistan’s presence at the top level at COP27 would help shine a spotlight on the climate crisis and encourage countries to take urgent action to limit global warming and increase climate awareness.
Sharif will jointly chair the conference with the Egyptian president and the prime minister of Norway. The PM’s Office said that Pakistan had “received this honour” among 195 UN member states due to PM Sharif’s endeavours to raise environmental awareness. After the recent floods, “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif effectively voiced immediate action on challenges of climate change, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State and Government, Samarkand, and the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York,” the statement added. Several countries endorsed his proposal for global cooperation in addressing the challenge of climate change, it added.
This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference will be the 27th such meeting held to address the climate crisis and call for collective action. The summit will be attended by world leaders, heads of governments, climate activists, think tanks and top officials of international financial institutions.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recently expressed solidarity with Pakistan and asked the international community to increase aid to support the country’s long-term rehabilitation and recovery of flood victims. On October 4, the UN and Pakistan issued a revised flash appeal for $816 million to cope with the devastation caused by unprecedented rains and floods. The funding request came as Pakistan is battling a “second wave of death and destruction” due to the outbreak of waterborne diseases.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who saw some of the damage during his visit last month, has sounded alarm about the potential for a second crisis of waterborne and other diseases as the flood water is receding. “Pakistan is on the verge of a public health disaster”, he cautioned, warning that threats of cholera, malaria and dengue fever could claim far more lives than the floods.
Unprecedented floods in Pakistan have affected 33 million people and killed 1,700 or more since mid-June. Nearly 8 million people were displaced, and hundreds of thousands are still living in tents, according to UN and Pakistan government estimates.
