LAHORE – Supreme Court (SC) senior most judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Monday highlighted Pakistan’s struggle with a climate emergency, saying that no significant progress was made on climate change over the past seven years despite court orders.
“Climate finance is climate justice,” said Syed Mansoor Ali Shah while addressing a seminar at a local educational institution in Lahore on Monday.
The SC senior judge was of the view that Pakistan, the 8th most affected country by climate change, urgently needed to address the crisis.
Justice Shah stated that courts consistently took climate emergency cases seriously, and gave reference of interventions since the 1990s such as shutting down the industries.
However, he said, implementation was lacking, with no focus on who would execute the decisions taken in this regard.
The judge also said that “Without nature finance, we cannot combat the climate emergency,”.
He called for urgent action on food security, disaster management, water security, urban and agricultural planning, and a broader movement for climate justice.
Criticizing the inaction over the past seven years, he said, “Court orders have been issued but nothing has changed on the ground. Neither the availability of resources nor government focus has been addressed,”.
Justice Shah described climate finance as a beacon of hope for Pakistan, saying it could provide security and serve as a fundamental human right. He said that there is a need to prioritize climate finance to protect human rights under the constitution.
He also called for a coordinated strategy to tackle the climate emergency and labeled the issue as significant as the 26th constitutional amendment.
“Courts will continue issuing directives but action from the government and institutions is essential,” he added.
