Ahsan Iqbal calls for space-based early warning on climate shocks
UrduPoint reports the planning minister's push for satellite-based forecasting without giving the venue or text, as ISSI says experts want climate finance at the centre of COP31.
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has urged the expansion of space-based early warning systems to strengthen Pakistan's ability to withstand climate shocks, UrduPoint reported on Tuesday.
According to the UrduPoint report, Iqbal made the case for putting satellite data and space-based monitoring at the centre of the country's disaster preparedness, so that hazards can be anticipated rather than only answered after they strike. The report did not say where or to whom the minister was speaking, did not carry the text of his remarks, and gave no figures for funding or for the number of systems involved.
In a separate statement, the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad said in a press release that experts speaking on its platform urged that climate finance and resilience be treated as priorities in the run-up to COP31, the next round of United Nations climate negotiations. The think tank described the intervention as a press release on COP31 priorities; it did not publish a costed set of proposals either.
The two statements were carried independently and neither outlet presented them as part of the same event.
Pakistan is among the countries most exposed to climate hazards, having absorbed repeated floods, heatwaves and glacial lake outburst floods in recent years. In Gilgit-Baltistan and the wider Karakoram-Himalaya belt, thousands of glaciers and the lakes they form sit above valleys where communities have limited warning time, and officials have repeatedly flagged gaps in forecasting and in the reach of alert systems.
Early warning in Pakistan is currently split between the Pakistan Meteorological Department, which issues weather and flood advisories, and the National Disaster Management Authority and provincial bodies that relay them to districts. Officials have in the past identified the last mile, getting a warning to a household in time to move people and livestock, as the weakest link.
Space-based monitoring is used internationally to track storm formation, rainfall accumulation, snow cover and glacier lakes. What remained unclear from Tuesday's report was whether Iqbal was announcing a new programme, proposing a partnership with an existing satellite operator, or setting out a general policy direction. No federal ministry statement carrying the text of the speech was immediately available.
The UrduPoint report did not say whether the minister linked the proposal to any budget allocation in the current fiscal year.
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