Islamabad – Wednesday, 13 September 2024 – The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC) and the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC), concluded a three-day Policy Action Dialogue titled, “Tackling Climate Change Impacts on Cryosphere, Water, Food Security, & Disaster Risk Reduction.” This event provided a platform for critical discussions on Pakistan’s current policy landscape surrounding climate change, water security, food security, and disaster risk reduction (DRR), emphasizing the urgent need to bridge the gap between policy and implementation.

The final day of the dialogue on Legislative Oversight featured a keynote address by Honorable Justice Ayesha Malik of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, focusing on the role of climate litigation in advancing climate justice. Justice Malik stressed that the judiciary has played a vital role in addressing climate-related cases through the lens of human rights, sustainable development, and environmental protection. However, she expressed disappointment with the lack of enforcement of court rulings on climate justice, citing numerous instances where decisions had been ignored or inadequately implemented. “Climate change is fundamentally a human rights issue,” Justice Malik remarked. “This crisis affects not just people, but every living being—plants, animals, and entire ecosystems.” She called for moving beyond mere acknowledgment of climate change as a critical issue, urging actionable steps and an end to working in silos. “Climate change doesn’t work in isolation; it’s coming at us full force. Policies will not be effective unless they have clear targets, deadlines, and mechanisms for monitoring and accountability.” She underscored the importance of strengthening institutions and governance systems to ensure that policies are translated into concrete action for the betterment of the people.

The Closing Keynote presented by Senator Sherry Rehman, Former Minister for Climate Change and Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change & Environmental Coordination emphasized the importance of understanding the cryosphere, which plays a crucial role in Pakistan’s water cycle, and expressed concern about human activities that are accelerating the melting of glaciers. Rehman stressed that Pakistan’s dependence on glacial-fed rivers, especially the Indus River, makes it highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters, such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which have devastating impacts on infrastructure and livelihoods. She also raised alarm over the global consequences of melting permafrost, which could release infectious pathogens and increase the risk of future pandemics, likening the climate crisis to broader health and environmental threats. Senator Rehman criticized the lack of coordinated action on climate policies, attributing failure to policy paralysis, weak governance issues, siloed thinking, and  creating new agencies rather than strengthening existing institutions. She argued that the focus should be on enhancing the capacity of current offices and utilizing a “magic triangle” approach, involving the private sector, central government, and provinces, to address climate challenges.

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