Islamabad: Senior Supreme Court Judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has said that we have to work on climate justice, an independent and strong judiciary is needed to control climate change.
Addressing the Breathe Pakistan Conference on Climate Change, he said that Pakistan is one of the countries most affected by climate change. Pakistan depends on the glaciers of the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. These glaciers are melting rapidly. The country may face water problems and the country is facing food insecurity, drought, and heat waves.
He said that we have to work on climate justice, an independent judiciary and a strong judiciary are needed to control climate change, climate finance and climate science are needed, there is also a dire need to work on climate change at the local level, there is a great need for a climate court.
Justice Mansoor said that polluters are also sitting outside the border, climate justice should be seen in a broader perspective. The commission in climate justice is a new thing. The Holy Quran also teaches environmental protection. Islam prohibits waste. Climate change is also a problem for the court. The work of the judiciary in the matter of climate change is not just to give punishments. Pakistani courts have been giving instructions to the government regarding environmental protection.
He said that climate justice is now linked to climate finance. Two days ago, the Supreme Court gave a decision. In this decision, it has been said that climate financing is included in the fundamental rights. I do not know whether the three billion dollars that came for the flood victims reached the victims or not. There is no Climate Change Authority and Climate Change Fund in our country.
Justice Mansoor said that a questioner came to us and said that despite the law being made in 2017, neither the Climate Change Authority nor the Fund has been established.
