PM calls for global galvanization to protect future of humankind

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday emphasised that Pakistan, the most impacted nation, was prepared to collaborate with the international community to safeguard these priceless natural resources and connected the survival of humanity on Earth with the compact health of glaciers.

Speaking at a high-level Glaciers 2025 event called “Actions for Glaciers,” which Tajik President Emamoli Rahmon hosted, the prime minister urged all nations to work together to safeguard glaciers from pollution and snowmelt by taking firm, decisive steps to ensure both the future of glaciers and the safety of humankind.

According to him, Pakistan has 7,000 glaciers that supply between 60 and 70 percent of the water used by the Indus River, sustaining 90 percent of its agricultural output and providing for its 200 million inhabitants.
He continued, “However, the glaciers that supply water to this river have been declining over time and at an alarming rate, which is estimated to be about 23 percent decrease since 1960.”

The prime minister claimed that rising temperatures were the primary cause of this retreat and that the effects of these changes were clearly apparent.

He revealed that more than 3,000 glacial lakes had formed in Pakistan’s northern regions as a result of rapid glacier melt, and that these lakes posed a serious hazard.