ISLAMABAD: Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman has cautioned that Pakistan risks “falling into the trap of insufficient resilience and recovery” if prompt action is not taken to tackle the climate change challenge.

“With the current extreme weather conditions, climate change refuses to wait for anyone. It does not pause for us to catch up on the necessary technical capacity or rapidly adapt, and I fear that if we do not take prompt action and allocate adequate technical and financial resources on the ground, we risk falling into the trap of insufficient resilience and recovery,” she said in a meeting with a delegation from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Thursday.

The USAID delegation was led by Ambassador Isobel Coleman, USAID’S Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programming.

“I am sure it became evident, that after a flood event that impacted 33 million people, building resilience within a society and among communities that have been displaced and impoverished is extremely onerous. The great flood impacted every sector in Pakistan, especially the economy which withstood a massive exogenous shock, impacting the capacity of the country to recover and rebuild,” she said.

Ambassador Coleman said that it was “very distressing” to see the impacts of floods on the vulnerable population, with areas still inundated in Sindh. She said that the USAID announced $16.4 million in additional development and humanitarian assistance to Sindh’s flood affectees to address worsening food insecurity, malnutrition and help curb the spread of infectious diseases.

During the meeting, a presentation was delivered on the US-Pakistani Green Alliance and USAID's ongoing activities in the field of climate change.

The presentation covered different initiatives like Climate Action Plan for Asia, Green Alliance Implementation Plan for 2024-2029, Recharge Pakistan Project, Living Indus Initiative and the Methane Mitigation Activity.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023