DawnMedia is organising the second edition of The Breathe Pakistan International Climate Change Conference in Islamabad today.
Despite contributing minimally to global emissions, Pakistan remains among the most climate-vulnerable nations, underscoring the critical need for coordinated, locally grounded, and globally informed responses.
The two-day conference brings together policymakers, experts, and stakeholders from across sectors to examine intersecting challenges and chart a path forward.
The first edition of Breathe Pakistan sparked national dialogue and global collaboration around vital climate challenges — from climate justice and finance to renewable energy transitions, disaster risk reduction, and inclusive public-private partnerships.
View the full agenda here.
10:25am: Musadik Malik highlights impact of global emissions
Speaking on the impact of air pollution on life expectancy, Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik highlighted that Pakistan did not even contribute 1pc to global carbon dioxide emissions.
He further pointed out that 10 countries produced about 78pc of the global emissions, quipping that those facing the impact of climate change in Gilgit-Baltistan were not the ones responsible for it.
“Is this about rights or justice or political will, and even our political will, not just international?” he wondered.
10:17am - UN official says cost to build resilience is growing
Mohamed Yahya, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, has said that the cost to build resilience is growing and financing is “nowhere to be seen”.
He said that in the global debate, there was a tendency to frame countries like Pakistan as “victims of climate change”. He said that while it was true, Pakistan was also a “test case for solutions”.
“If progress is to be accelerated, especially in a country like Pakistan, it will send a powerful signal to the world,” he said.
10:14am - UN official says execution is major challenge to tackling climate challenge
Mohamed Yahya, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, in his keynote address, said that Pakistan has witnessed constant floods that cost billions of dollars. He said that the losses every year were probably equal to the IMF programme. He also pointed to the high temperature in Karachi on Monday.
“The constraints and the challenges overall is one of execution … we are seeing very little implementation,” he said.
10:05am - World Bank official recognises Pakistan’s efforts to tackle climate change
S. Adeel Abbas, the regional climate lead at the World Bank Group, has acknowledged the government’s commitment and policy toward tackling climate change.
“I work on 24 countries in the region on climate change. I think Pakistan is among one of those countries that have set the agenda right,” he said, calling for moving toward action.
He said that the World Bank was supporting various climate projects in Pakistan.
9:56am - Sherry Rehman asks why the cost of conflict is not being counted
“Why is the cost of conflict not being counted? That carbon footprint is missing,” PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said. She said that geopolitics was “devouring the future”.
9:53am - PPP Senator Sherry Rehman says conflicts are costing the environment
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that “conflicts are costing the environment much more than we know, compute or understand”. She said that there were more than 60 active conflicts in the world.
She also said that data on this was missing. She also said that there was very little discussion on the impact of these wars on the environment.
9:50am - PPP Senator Sherry Rehman highlights gap between action and ambition
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, in her keynote address, said, “All state climate action … there is a splintered, fragmented movement”.
“While the global crisis is staggering, what is equally devastating is the state of the global movement itself. It is defunded and derided,” she said.
9:47am - Dawn CEO calls for shift in priorities at home
Dawn CEO Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani has called for shifting priorities at home.
“Pakistan must place far greater emphasis on adaptation,” she said, adding that this was not enough.
“At the global level, climate finance must be rebalanced to reflect the reality on the ground, not just global ambition. Adaptation needs to sit alongside mitigation, not behind it,” she said.
“At the same time, we must be disciplined in how we manage the energy transition. We need to scale renewables without constraining growth, invest in modernising our grid, and ensure that transition financing supports development rather than creating unsustainable debt burdens,” she said.
9:44am - Dawn CEO says urgency for Pakistan is immediate
Dawn CEO Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani has said that no single actor can address the challenge of climate change alone.
“Governments provide policy direction and frameworks. The private sector drives investment, innovation, and execution. Communities bring lived experience and accountability. Media plays a critical role in informing the public, shaping discourse, and holding all stakeholders accountable. Real progress depends on aligning these roles into a coherent whole,” she said.
“For Pakistan, this urgency is immediate, and it sits alongside deep economic and development pressures that are already shaping national priorities. Decisions made today on energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and urbanisation will define not just our climate resilience, but the direction of our economic future,” she said.
9:42am - Dawn CEO says climate change threat to Pakistan’s economic stability
“Pakistan is among the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, facing increasingly severe floods, heatwaves, water stress, and dangerously poor air quality. These are no longer abstract risks or rare phenomena; they are recurring shocks,” Dawn CEO Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani said.
“Behind every statistic showing up on our screens are real lives. Farmers are losing entire harvests, families are forced to leave their homes, children are growing up in hazardous air, and communities are rebuilding after each disaster only to face the next one,” she said.
She said that climate change was not just an environmental crisis.
“It is a threat to Pakistan’s economic stability, public health, and the country’s development trajectory. And the burden is not shared equally,” she said.
9:40am - Dawn CEO delivers opening remarks
Dawn CEO Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani addressed the second edition of the Breathe Pakistan International Climate Change Conference. In her remarks, she said that the platform had grown into “an important space for dialogue, collaboration and action on one of the defining challenges of our time”.
“When we first convened this platform in 2025, we did so with a clear belief that climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is not a conversation for tomorrow. It is a lived reality for Pakistan, for South Asia, and for millions across the globe. Today, as we gather again, that reality has only intensified,” she said.
9:34am - 2-day conference begins
The two-day conference has officially begun. It is being held at the Sheesh Mahal Hall of Serena Hotel, Islamabad. The conference began with the national anthem and the recitation of the Holy Quran.
A man accused of murdering 15 people in an anti-Semitic mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach is facing a raft of fresh charges, court records released on Wednesday showed.
Naveed Akram is accused of opening fire as families thronged Bondi Beach for a Hanukkah celebration in December.
The 24-year-old has already been charged with dozens of serious crimes, including 15 murders and committing an act of terrorism.
Court records showed he is now facing 19 additional charges, including multiple counts of shooting with intent to murder, wounding with intent to murder, and discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest.
Akram, who is being held in a high-security prison, is yet to indicate how he will plead.
His father and alleged co-conspirator Sajid, 50, was shot and killed by police during the assault.
The charges were released after a sweeping inquiry opened public hearings into Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for 30 years.
“The sharp spike of anti-Semitism that we have witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East,” inquiry chief Virginia Bell said in opening remarks earlier this week.
“It’s important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility towards Jewish Australians simply because they are Jews.”
The mass shooting has sparked national soul-searching about anti-Semitism and widespread anger over the failure to shield Jewish Australians from harm.
Australia announced a suite of gun law reforms following the shootings, including a nationwide gun buyback scheme.
The buyback scheme has since stalled as the federal government struggles to convince Australia’s states and territories to sign on.
Naveed Akram was flagged by Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019, but he slipped off the radar after it decided that he posed no imminent threat.
Police documents released following the attack said he and his father had carried out “firearms training” in what was believed to be the New South Wales countryside prior to the shooting.
They said the suspects “meticulously planned” the attack for months, releasing pictures showing them firing shotguns and moving in what they described as a “tactical manner”.
The pair also recorded a video in October railing against “Zionists” while sitting in front of a flag of the Islamic State and detailing their motivations for the attack, police said.
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