ISLAMABAD: Apparently irked over not being invited by longtime aide US to an upcoming meeting on the climate crisis, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday expressed surprise at the decision in no uncertain terms, questioning the commitment of the global community to the cause.
“I am puzzled at the cacophony over Pak[istan] not being invited to a climate change conf[erence],” he said in a series of tweets.
I am puzzled at the cacophony over Pak not being invited to a climate change conf! My govt’s environment policies are driven solely by our commitment to our future generations of a clean & green Pakistan to mitigate the impact of climate change.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 3, 2021
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s “environment policies are driven solely by our commitment to our future generations of a clean [and] green Pakistan to mitigate” the drastic impacts of the climate change, the prime minister observed.
From 2013 onwards, when PTI came to power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, his government has taken several initiatives to tackle the threat to the environment, including “Green Pak[istan], 10[billion]-tree tsunami, nature based solutions and cleaning up our rivers”.
In the last seven years of continuous governance, “we have gained vast experience […] beg with KP, [and] our policies are being recognised [and] lauded” worldwide, he said.
Imran said he has “already laid out priorities for the UN Climate Change Conference 2021 – COP26″ but wondered if the “international community is serious about countering [the] impact of climate change”.
His tweets come days after US climate envoy John Kerry announced to hold talks with leaders of India, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bangladesh during an Asian tour from April 1 to 9 in an effort to narrow differences on climate change goals to slow global warming.
However, conspicuously absent from his schedule was a stopover in Pakistan, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate challenges, or talks with the government that has since coming to office in August 2018 has unveiled a wide-ranging plan to change practices and cut emissions that drive climate change.
The schedule was announced days after US President Joe Biden invited 40 world leaders to a two-day Leaders Summit on Climate “to galvanise efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis” but skipped Pakistan, raising eyebrows.
The virtual summit, which follows Washington’s return to the 2016 Paris agreement, is slated to be held on April 22 and April 23.
Responding to the snub, the Foreign Office said: “Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our times that can only be countered through inclusive, cooperative and forward-looking policies. Pakistan remains fully committed to play its due role in this fight.”
The summit is one of two major international events on climate change. The United Nations is also scheduled to hold an event, the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP-26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year and Pakistan, as a UN member, will be invited to this event.
US SAYS ‘LOOK FORWARD’ TO ENGAGE ISLAMABAD ON CLIMATE:
Islamabad’s exclusion from the invitation list for the summit was questioned by several analysts given the country’s vulnerability to global warming and Prime Minister Khan’s focus on the environment front.
However, in a later press statement, the US State Department had said that Washington looked forward to working with Islamabad on the climate crisis at different levels.
“The United States seeks to engage all countries to explore areas for cooperation on addressing the climate crisis, including Pakistan,” a spokesperson for the State Department had said when asked why Pakistan was being ignored on such a sensitive issue.
“The Leaders Summit on Climate is only one of several major climate-related events in the run-up to COP-26, which will be a global event,” the official had said.
“We look forward to working with the government of Pakistan and governments around the world to raise the level of global ambition to meet the climate challenge.”
Isolated terrorist state
PM Imran ‘puzzled’ over no invite to US climate-crisis meeting
Once upon a time a sheep-head had worn all wolves cloths and looked into the mirror and puzzled over why it can’t be a wolf or fox?
Once upon a time a wolf/fox had worn all Lion’s cloths and looked into the mirror and puzzled over why it can’t be a like Lion?
Once upon a time a monkey had worn all Modi’s cloths and looked into the mirror and puzzled over why it can’t be a like Modi in RSS?
Once upon a time a donkey had worn all Begum’s cloths/burqua and looked into the mirror and puzzled over why it can’t be a like Hasina, pride PM of Bangladesh?
FINALLY KERRY BROUGHT A MIRROR AND SHOWN HIM WHAT IT IS— A SNAKE-HEAD?
International events are for consensus between nations for doing something good for the humanity beyond borders. It is for international harmony and not cacophony by perpetrators of terror. Such events are not to participate on world stage with begging bowl or for bashing other nations for own follies. International conferences are not the game of cricket, and no one is interested in IK’s bouncers. 😏