Sherry Rehman says water stress is a very real danger for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, May 15 (SABAH): Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman has said that water stress is a very real danger for Pakistan which is causing natural disasters and silting up of the Indus River as it heads towards south.

In a tweet, she said it needs immediate action to prevent crop and livestock losses. She said the equitable distribution of water as per the 1991 accord and planting more mangroves to ward off the adverse effects of environmental degradation.

She said that United Nations lists Pakistan among ‘drought-hit’ countries – And rightly points out the need for urgent financing for 23 countries facing desertification. We also need capacity to even seek such financing, which is pledged at big tent conferences but never disbursed

Sherry Rehman said that the people need urgent awareness to understand that climate stress is interconnected, just like biodiversity, to the earth’s atmosphere. One country can’t fight alone, but can certainly take adaptation measures. So far we have been focusing on mitigation, a long term luxury.

Sherry Rehman water stress is a very real danger for Pakistan; with melting glaciers, patchy rainfall, silting up of the Indus as it heads south. She said that it needs immediate action to prevent crop, livestock losses. 90 % of our agriculture depends on the Indus. No switch can be pulled overnight. Start by equity.

Sherry Rehman said that last year they slashed the budgets of climate change of Paksitan and I protested on their behalf despite being in opposition. In this time of economic fragility I don’t know what’s possible in terms of expanding budgets. But working on upscaling core priorities to adaptation, sorely needed.