KATHMANDU, Monday, August 18, 2025 : Chairperson of Pakistan\u2019s National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change, Munaza Hassan, on Monday urged Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) nations to forge a \u201cregional pact of climate solidarity\u201d \u2014 to legislate together, innovate together, and speak with one voice in global negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world must know\u2014the mountains that unite us are not only our shared heritage, they are our shared line of defence, and history will not forgive hesitation,\u201d she said while addressing the Hindu Kush Himalaya Parliamentarians\u2019 Meet 2025 in Kathmandu.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The two-day high-level gathering has brought together around 70 parliamentarians \u2014 mainly chairs, co-chairs and members of parliamentary climate committees \u2014 along with experts from across the HKH region to strengthen cooperation on pressing environmental challenges.<\/p>\n
Munaza Hassan said the Hindu Kush Himalaya, which feeds rivers, shapes climates, and sustains nearly two billion lives, is under existential threat. \u201cThese mountains are bleeding ice. This is not the slow march of nature\u2014it is an existential war being fought in real time, against forces unleashed by human hands,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n
Highlighting her country\u2019s vulnerability, Hassan recalled the devastating floods of 2022 that submerged one-third of Pakistan, displacing 33 million people. She pointed to the deadly heatwaves of 2024 and the recurring glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, which continue to destroy villages and vital infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2025 alone, fresh GLOFs and monsoon floods have killed over 300 people and displaced thousands, while drought cripples agriculture in Sindh and Balochistan, and smog suffocates our cities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan has learned a brutal truth: climate change is no longer a challenge of tomorrow\u2014it is the disaster of today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the devastation, Hassan stressed Pakistan\u2019s determination to fight back through law, policy, and innovation. She cited constitutional amendments enshrining climate as a fundamental right, the introduction of a Carbon Levy on polluting industries in 2025, and the launch of the National EV Policy 2025\u20132030.<\/p>\n
She also underscored Pakistan\u2019s clean energy revolution, noting that solar power now provides more than one-quarter of the country\u2019s electricity, placing Pakistan among the world\u2019s \u201c25% solar club.\u201d With 17 gigawatts added in 2024 alone, Pakistan has nearly doubled renewable capacity in three years, supported by grassroots solar adoption that has surpassed 5.3 GW in net-metered capacity by April 2025.<\/p>\n
On conservation, she highlighted the 10 Billion Tree initiative, expansion of protected areas, and Pakistan\u2019s pivotal role in establishing the Global Loss and Damage Fund, financing climate resilience at the community level.<\/p>\n
But Hassan warned that no nation can win this fight alone. \u201cThe Hindu Kush Himalaya is a single ecosystem\u2014our rivers do not stop at borders, our glaciers do not ask for visas, and our air does not recognize sovereignty. We rise or fall together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She stressed that the Parliamentarians\u2019 Meet was \u201cmore than dialogue\u2014it is the call to arms of our generation,\u201d urging regional lawmakers to act decisively to protect communities from Bhutan to Bangladesh and from Afghanistan to Myanmar.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan comes to Kathmandu with determination: to share lessons, to learn, and to lead where leadership is required. Let us prove that together, we can sustain nature, and by doing so, empower our people,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KATHMANDU, Monday, August 18, 2025 : Chairperson of Pakistan\u2019s National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change, Munaza Hassan, on Monday urged Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) nations to forge a \u201cregional pact of climate solidarity\u201d \u2014 to legislate together, innovate together, and speak with one voice in global negotiations. \u201cThe world must know\u2014the mountains that unite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7027,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-climate","category-south-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}