Conference Concludes in Karachi
Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik said on Friday at the concluding day of a two-day conference in Karachi — “Beyond Polycrisis: Pathways Towards a Sustainable Economic Future”, organised by IBA Karachi’s Center for Business & Economic Research — that climate disasters, technological disruption and an increasingly unequal global economic order are converging to deepen Pakistan’s economic vulnerabilities. The conference was a two-day event in Karachi, and the minister spoke on its concluding day. The organiser was the Center for Business & Economic Research at IBA Karachi, and the title of the conference was “Beyond Polycrisis: Pathways Towards a Sustainable Economic Future”. The minister’s remarks were made in that setting, on the final day of the conference.
Warning That Progress Could Be Reversed
The minister warned that the combined impact of those converging pressures could reverse decades of progress. The pressures he named were climate disasters, technological disruption, and an increasingly unequal global economic order, and he said they are converging — that is, coming together — to deepen Pakistan’s economic vulnerabilities. The warning is that their combined impact could undo progress made over decades, which is a serious assessment of the scale of the challenge. The minister’s point is not about one pressure alone, but about the three together, and about what their combination could mean for Pakistan’s economic position and for the progress achieved over a long period.
Climate Impacts Measured in Lives and Livelihoods
He said climate impacts must be measured in lives lost and livelihoods, not just GDP, and cited figures of around 6,000 deaths, 20,000 injured or disabled people and 30 to 40 million displaced persons over five major flood events. The minister’s argument is that the measurement of climate impacts should go beyond gross domestic product, and should include the human cost in lives lost and in livelihoods affected. The figures he cited are attributed to him: around 6,000 deaths, 20,000 people injured or disabled, and 30 to 40 million people displaced, over five major flood events. Those figures are presented here as figures cited by the minister, not as independently verified totals in this article.
Sherry Rehman Calls for a Rethink
Senator Sherry Rehman, keynote speaker at the conference, called for a fundamental rethink of climate resilience, energy security and technological change, warning the world is entering a new Axial Age in which climate stress, geopolitical disruption and AI are increasingly interconnected. The senator was the keynote speaker, and her call was for a fundamental rethink — that is, a basic reconsideration — of three subjects: climate resilience, energy security, and technological change. Her warning is that the world is entering a new Axial Age, a term she used to describe the current period, in which climate stress, geopolitical disruption and artificial intelligence are increasingly interconnected. The three factors she named are therefore presented as linked, rather than as separate challenges, and her call is for a rethink that takes that interconnection into account.
Source: Dawn
