ISLAMABAD: Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman on Tuesday said Pakistan should declare a “climate emergency” as she urged for measures to mitigate the impacts of global warming through gender-centric lens.

Speaking at a seminar which advocated women-led solutions for climate justice, Ms Rehman said climate action and women were not “niche subjects” but they were an integral part of the system.

The seminar included representation from all the major political parties as well as participation from the differently-abled and transgender community. It also included civil society organisations, women political workers, academia and media.

The opening remarks were made by Naeem Mirza, executive director of the Aurat Foundation. He underlined that major carbon emitters were China and the US as they are responsible for 29 per cent and 31 per cent of emissions, respectively.

Sherry demands climate emergency in Pakistan; panelist says female agricultural workers denied due social protection

Simi Kamal, researcher and environmentalist presented the key findings of a research on the role of women in combatting climate change. Her presentation titled ‘Women at the Forefront of Climate Action’ highlighted challenges in the fight against global warming.

Climate action led by women

She said the booklet was divided into five sections starting from the basic concept of climate change, current global institutional architecture for climate change, the impact of climate change in Pakistan and policy response, and the final section talks about developing the platforms for climate action led by women.

She said the time had come for women to take over the task of rebuilding the earth and its resources for a safer climate, equitable living conditions, and environmental justice. She further added that global economies were failing to produce economic, environmental and social justice for people and Earth. The current mantra of ‘build back better’ would never deliver until people challenged the current capitalist and development paradigms of perpetual growth in a finite world.

She said that the way forward included long-term, medium-term and short-term measures and actions. She said that the demonstration of political will by federal and provincial governments should be a priority. “In the medium term, we need to make the water ministry and the flood commission more effective, changing the narrative around women and climate change as well as developing an extensive training programme on ecosystem-based adaptation.”

Dr Aliya Hashmi Khan, a retired professor of Quaid-i-Azam University, said that climate change was not being taken seriously in the context of gender. Citing labour force statistics, she lamented women were not recognised as agricultural workers in the labour force statistics nor did they receive due social protection. She said that it was even more important for Pakistan to recognise women who worked in the agriculture sector. An important demand was made about collecting periodic and updated information, especially on the women working in agriculture and related activities.

At the end of her talk, she said, “We cannot solve the issues of injustice without looking at the holistic picture. This report is important since it talks about inter-government partnerships, partnerships with the donor community and also of the movements women are engaged in.”

Shafqat Kakakhel, SDPI board of governors chairperson, said that the short, medium and long-term measures given in the report were all achievable and hoped that Pakistan could summon the political will to mobilise resources in order to achieve this task.

Kim Campbell, former prime minister of Canada, stressed creating strong partnerships among national and international actors focused on climate change. Luke Myers, an official of the Canadian High Commission said that the event was important to highlight the challenges Pakistan’s women faced in their fight against climate change.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2023