UNITED NATIONS: A group of Pakistani parliamentarians spoke at the annual Parliamentary Hearing at the UN, calling for enhanced international cooperation to address the growing water crisis.
The water scarcity crisis is increasingly being impacted by global climate change, which is leading to water scarcity in some regions and flooding in others.
The Hearing, entitled ‘Water for People and Planet: Stop the waste, change the game, invest in the future,’ is a joint initiative between the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and aims to provide a parliamentary contribution to the UN Water Conference, which will be held from March 22-24, 2023, in New York.
Over 250 members of parliament, Speakers, advisers, and related officials from 60 countries are participating in the event at the United Nations headquarters in New York. National Assembly Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani led the parliamentary delegation from Pakistan, which included several senators and a minister.
Durrani told the hearing that water scarcity caused by climate change stemmed from underinvestment in water and sanitation and insufficient cooperation on transboundary waters.
He emphasized that finance, technology transfer, and enhanced international cooperation are essential to overcome the challenges.
The other speakers in the hearing also stressed the need to scale up investments, prioritize nature-based adaptation, mobilize innovative financing, adopt climate-smart agriculture, and explore and sustainably use groundwater.
They called for the fulfilment of long-standing commitments, such as the mobilization of $100 billion in annual climate finance by developed countries.
