SCO must tackle climate change menace: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to “build a wall” against climate change.

Addressing the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) meeting in Samarkand on Friday, the PM said flood devastation in Pakistan has displaced millions, while 1,400 people have died.

“It is catastrophic of proportions unknown to the people of Pakistan and of course the entire world,” the PM said.

“With your support, we will fight it out. These devastating floods in Pakistan are most definitely induced by climate change.

“Cloud outbursts, and unprecedented rains combined by hill torrents coming down all this put together made Pakistan look like a sea of water.

Pakistan floods’ death toll nears 1,500 as authorities look to step up relief efforts

“But the point at issue is will this be the last time that a country is going to be a victim of this devastation? Or God forbid will others will also become a victim of this tragedy?” he asked.

“And this is where I would appeal and request all of you earnestly to let SCO stand up and build a wall against this menace. This can be done through a sustainable plan.”

He said Pakistan’s carbon emission is less than 1% yet nature had this “in store for us”.

‘What is good for Afghanistan, is good for Pakistan’

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz said that Pakistan is Afghanistan’s neighbour, adding that peace there will ensure peace in Pakistan.

“In other words, what is good for Afghanistan, is good for Pakistan and vice versa,” he said.

PM Shehbaz added that the world would have to work together to support all “good initiatives” in Afghanistan. He said that it would be a “big mistake to ignore Afghanistan this time around”.

“Strengthening Afghanistan in the security and counterterrorism domain should run parallel to the SCO’s socio-economic support to the Afghan people,” the PM stated.

He further said that unfreezing Afghanistan’s financial assets remains a crucial need in this regard.

The PM also highlighted Pakistan’s fight against terrorism, urging the SCO states to join hands and “fight this menace of extremism, separatism and terrorism and wipe it from the face of this earth”.

Later on Twitter, the PM said that “ïn my speech at CHS-SCO today in Samarkand, I asked member countries to renew their search for regional solutions to problems that threaten to undermine our shared peace and development.”

Building a wall against climate change is one such imperative that we ignore at our own peril, Shehbaz said.

On Thursday, the PM arrived in Samarkand on a two-day visit, accompanied by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.

Later, he also met Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkiye’s Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi. In a tweet, PM Shehbaz said that the meetings were focused on enhancing trade and investment.

Again, Putin offers the carrot of cheap fuel, energy security

As per Russian state-owned new agency RIA, Putin said that pipeline gas supplies to Pakistan were possible and part of the infrastructure was already in place.

“The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to work closely with Russia to further expand and strengthen cooperation between the two countries across all areas of mutual benefit including food security, trade & investment, energy, defence and security,” a statement from Sharif’s office said.

The two sides agreed to convene the next meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) in Islamabad at an early date, it said.