She is everywhere, on all the television channels in the world, spokesperson for a Pakistan devastated by unprecedented floods. Sherry Rehman, 61, is not Minister of Ecology but of Climate Change. And she intends to show that it is not the same thing.
>> Pakistan: what we know about the devastating floods that killed at least 1,136 people in three months
Climate change is real, happening now, and Pakistan is on the front line. This is what she repeats in all her interviews, in the American, English and Canadian media: 1,300 people have died, 33 million have lost all or part of their homes, 90% of the crops in the Sindh region have been drowned, everything like hospitals, fire stations, bridges, roads, there are no more toilets, no more drinking water and diseases threaten…
“You knowSherry Rehman told NPR, we are used to the monsoon, to torrential rains. But there, it was the biblical flood, unheard of, so no, it’s not a ‘natural’ disaster. It is a disaster caused by human activities, and the biggest polluters, those who contribute the most to global warming cannot turn their backs on reality. The reality is that the corporations whose profits exceed the GDP of many countries must take responsibility.“In other words, pay, repair, send equipment urgently, but also finance upstream infrastructure.
“Global warming is not generated by Pakistan at all. And global warming leads to heatwaves, flooding, glacial melt. Developed nations must make the transitions and follow through on the pledges they have made at COP, from Paris to now.”@RTBFinfo Belgian TV pic.twitter.com/3hQNXR8k88
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) August 31, 2022
“Especially since we know that it will start againshe said to Guardian, the global temperature has not dropped, quite the contrary. Heat waves and floods will follow one another, the glaciers are melting. We can’t adapt alone.” Sherry Rehman recalls that Pakistan represents 1% of global CO2 emissions, one ton emitted per year and per inhabitant, ie fifteen times less than the United States or even five times less than France.
If his knowledge of the file is irreproachable, the climate is not his first fight. In her country, she embodies the fight against domestic violence, honor killings and the crime of blasphemy. So many commitments for which she has received death threats and has lived for ten years under police protection. Refusals and intimidation will not make her let go, quite the contrary. The Pakistani intends to hammer home her demand for climate justice at COP27, the climate conference to be held in two months in Egypt. His goal ? Enter numerical reparations in the final text.