In Greta Thunberg’s climate call to action, Pakistan is ‘an example’

Asserting the need to prioritise climate change, Sweden’s environmental activist Greta Thunberg invoked Pakistan on Tuesday saying.

“We focus on the climate when we have time to spare, it feels like… It’s something that – yes, it’s a problem and not an existential emergency that affects all other issues as it should be.”

“Just take Pakistan now, as an example, a very clear example,” the 19-year-old activist added, referring to record monsoon rains and deadly floods in Pakistan that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,290, including 453 children, a Reuters report said.

The floods have followed record-breaking summer temperatures in the country with the government and the United Nations blaming climate change for the extreme weather. Pakistan’s floods also present a grave humanitarian crisis for the nation as relief efforts become a huge burden for the country’s economy.

The United Nations has called for $160 million in aid to help the flood victims in Pakistan. “We have been completely been focusing on other things,” Greta Thunberg said, adding that politicians need to step up to prevent further climate change.

“Therefore, people of course only focus on things that are right ahead of them instead of actually focusing on the larger holistic picture,” she added.