Climate minister seeks joint global research on glaciers
Addressing a pre-COP31 dialogue in Islamabad, Dr Musadik Malik said mountain regions could give early warning of risks other countries will face.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik on Monday called for international cooperation in glacier and mountain research, warning that the effects of climate change on mountain regions could offer critical insights into the risks facing other parts of the world, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Addressing a pre-COP31 dialogue in Islamabad, the minister said the world needed joint scientific research and coordinated efforts, according to APP, which carried his remarks on Monday. The state news agency's report did not reproduce the full text of his speech.
UrduPoint also reported the minister's call for global research cooperation to assess glacier and mountain risks, carrying the same message in its headline without adding further detail from the address.
According to APP, Malik said the impacts of climate change on mountain regions could provide critical insights into the risks other parts of the world will confront in the coming years, placing high-altitude countries at the centre of the global climate debate rather than at its edge.
Neither report gave figures for glacier loss, named any funding commitment, or specified the research mechanisms Pakistan is seeking. It was not immediately clear which countries or institutions Islamabad is inviting to join the effort, or what it intends to put on the table at COP31.
Pakistan's largest glaciers lie in Gilgit-Baltistan, in the Karakoram and Himalayan ranges, where glacial melt and the lakes it forms are a persistent concern for downstream communities and for the roads and bridges that connect the region to the rest of the country.
The dialogue was held ahead of COP31, the UN climate conference. Pakistan has used past climate conferences to press for finance and technical support, arguing that countries with small emissions carry a disproportionate share of the cost of a warming climate.
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