Vice President of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman Wednesday said climate change had emerged as a serious challenge for Pakistan and the entire world, urging immediate and collective action to protect the planet.In her message on World Earth Day, she said Pakistan was among the countries most severely affected by climate change and was suffering annual economic losses equivalent to six to nine percent of its GDP due to environmental disasters and related impacts.

She said the devastating floods of 2022 affected 33 million people and claimed 1,700 lives, while in 2025 around 800 people lost their lives and two million were displaced because of climate-related calamities. Sherry expressed concern over the dangerous rise in temperatures and the rapid melting of glaciers, warning that Pakistan remained among the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change. 

She said unchecked human activities, excessive use of plastic, deforestation and destruction of mountains and forests were major causes behind worsening environmental conditions. Sherry Rehman said forest cover in Pakistan had declined to only five percent, while the Air Quality Index in major cities had crossed 300, posing serious health risks to citizens. 

Highlighting progress in clean energy, she said the share of renewable energy had increased to 53 percent, adding that Pakistan was expected to achieve 12 gigawatts of off-grid and six gigawatts of net-metered solar capacity by the end of 2026. She said that Pakistan had set a target of generating 60 percent of its energy through renewable sources by 2030. 

Referring to the growing water crisis, she said per capita water availability had dropped to 1,000 cubic metres, which was a dangerous threshold, while Pakistan ranked 14th among the 17 most water-stressed countries. Sherry Rehman stressed that prioritising environment-friendly policies had become the need of the hour and called on every citizen to play an active role in environmental protection. “Protecting the Earth is, in fact, protecting the future of humanity. Let us pledge to make our planet safer and greener,” she said.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)