Presiding a conference hosted by the National Institute of Maritime Affairs on the occasion of World Environment Day, the minister said that the immediacy of climate change cannot be ignored any further, as Pakistan was particularly afflicted by it.
“Summer came early, giving us the longest heatwave in Pakistan’s history,” she said, adding that Pakistan had faced the warmest months on record since 1961, with temperatures ranging from 3 to 6 degrees centigrade warmer than normal.
Saying that Pakistan needs to act to save its resources as much as possible, Sherry stressed that we must work at home to conserve our water, and that we need to stop polluting the sea, the air and our soil.
“90pc of our plastics, plastic bags, single-use plastic bottles are ending up in our seas and rivers, which are being consumed by the fish and marine life we eat."
She advised the creation of precise national action plans and promoted research to combat the threat, urging national governments to join the conversation.
The minister also said that the youth of the country was of utmost importance in the mission against climate change.
“The recent multilateral meetings have made a series of action pledges at the global level to reduce GHG emissions by the end of the century to control the rising temperatures to pre-industrial levels,” the minister said, while acknowledging that the way forward was tricky.