Senator Rehman Urges Pak-C2 Region to Jointly Tackle Climate Crisis

On October 30th, 2025, Senator Sherry Rehman, the chairperson of the Senate standing committee on climate change and environmental coordination, has urged the Pak-C2 region to adopt a unified approach to address the climate crisis and achieve a just energy transition.

The Pak-C2 region, comprising Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, has a combined population of over 308 million and a GDP of $848 billion. Rehman believes this scale and the shared challenges faced by these countries provide the potential to shape a joint pathway for the Global South.

Rehman stressed that the energy transition cannot happen in silos and that Pakistan and Central Asia must bargain collectively, build regional consensus, and move forward together in this defining decade. She emphasized that climate justice and domestic climate governance must be viewed as separate issues, and the world must not ask the most climate-vulnerable nations to carry the burden of others' emissions.

Highlighting global inequities, Rehman noted that fossil fuels continue to receive $7 trillion in annual subsidies despite record growth in renewables. She warned that this "dual expansion" is pushing frontline countries like Pakistan, where temperatures reach 53 degrees Celsius, to the brink.

Rehman reminded that Pakistan contributes less than one percent to global emissions yet suffers disproportionately from climate disasters. She asserted that climate finance is not charity, but rather a matter of justice, as developing nations face high capital costs, fragmented institutions, and limited de-risking tools in their pursuit of clean energy.