ISLAMABAD: The American envoy to Pakistan, Ambassador Donald Blome, highlighted his country’s interest in strengthening partnership with Pakistan to help climate-vulnerable communities on Tuesday, as he addressed a ceremony to launch a major water management initiative called Recharge Pakistan.
The project aims to build climate resilience by utilizing nature-based solutions, such as restoring wetlands, floodplains and improving groundwater recharge, especially in the Indus Basin region. Its core objectives include reducing the impacts of floods and droughts and increasing water security in the country.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change is involved in its implementation, with the help of international partners like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
“I am delighted to be here as we join our partners in launching Recharge Pakistan – an ambitious climate initiative that will strengthen flood resilience and improve water security in some of Pakistan’s most vulnerable communities,” Ambassador Blome said while addressing at the project’s launch event in Islamabad.
“Recharge Pakistan’s network of green infrastructure projects will rehabilitate floodwater channels, rerouting excess water away from where people live and work,” he continued. “It will reforest and restore wetlands to prevent dangerous runoff. It will revitalize the soil’s ability to absorb excess water and store it underground.”
The US ambassador said the project would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replenish the water supply by creating 127 new groundwater storage basins.
He noted that Pakistan was the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index, saying it was experiencing the effects of the climate crisis every day.
“Rising temperatures have taken a toll on Pakistan’s majestic glaciers,” he said. “And Pakistani farmers have seen crops wither under droughts.”
“But by coming together, we can help communities adapt, mitigate, and even reverse some of the worst impacts of climate change,” he added. “And we can do it in a way that lifts up local communities.”
Blome pointed out that his country’s partnership with Pakistan on water management dated back to the 1960s.
He informed that the US had provided $5 billion to the Green Climate Fund and was bringing in new investments in renewable energy to help Pakistan achieve its ambitious goal of reaching 60 percent renewable energy by 2030.
He said Recharge Pakistan will reduce flooding hazards for more than 50,000 hectares, provide Pakistani families, businesses and farms access to clean, fresh water and improve the livelihoods of 687,000 people while indirectly benefiting more than seven million people in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.
“The United States will continue to broaden and deepen our partnership with Pakistan to protect climate-vulnerable communities, and build a greener, more prosperous and climate resilient future,” he added.
US envoy vows to strengthen climate partnership with Pakistan, launches water initiative
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US envoy vows to strengthen climate partnership with Pakistan, launches water initiative
- Ambassador Blome says Recharge Pakistan will benefit more than seven million people in three Pakistani provinces
- He says it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, replenish water supply by creating 127 groundwater storage basins
Crowds worldwide rage or celebrate after Iran strikes, 23 killed in Pakistan
- At least 10 were killed in Karachi, 11 in northern city of Skardu and two in Islamabad during violent clashes between protesters and law enforcers
- In other parts of the world, such as Paris, Iranian exiles take to the streets to celebrate the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
KARACHI, Pakistan/BAGHDAD: Demonstrations against the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran turned violent in Pakistan and Iraq on Sunday, while in other parts of the world Iranian exiles took to the streets to celebrate the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
At least 23 protesters were killed in clashes in Pakistan, including 10 in the port of Karachi where security guards at the US consulate fired on demonstrators who breached the outer wall, 11 in the northern city of Skardu where the crowd torched a UN office, and two in Islamabad.
In Iraq, police fired tear gas and stun grenades to scatter hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters who had gathered outside the Green Zone diplomatic compound in the capital Baghdad, where the US embassy is located.
But in Paris, a joyous crowd of thousands turned out to celebrate, waving flags of Iran’s pre-revolutionary monarchy, some carrying red roses and bottles of champagne.
Iran’s neighbors to the east and west, Pakistan and Iraq have the world’s largest Shia Muslim populations after Iran, and were the scenes of some of the worst unrest from crowds angry at the US-Israeli attacks.
Protesters in Karachi chanted “Death to America! Death to Israel!” at the consulate, where Reuters reporters heard gunfire and saw tear gas fired in surrounding streets.
Consulate security staff opened fire at a crowd who were pushed back after breaching the outer security layer, said Sukhdev Assardas Hemnani, a local government spokesman. The demonstrators also set a vehicle ablaze outside the main gate and clashed with police, he said.
“We are in constant touch with consulate officials. They are all safe,” Hemnani added.
The US Embassy in Islamabad said in a post on X it was monitoring reports of demonstrations and advised US citizens to observe good personal security practices. The consulate in Karachi and embassy in Islamabad did not respond to Reuters requests for further comment.
Thirty-four people were injured, police said. Karachi’s Civil Hospital said all those killed and injured were hit with gunshots. The provincial government of Sindh ordered an inquiry.
UN OFFICE SET ON FIRE
Skardu, where the UN building was set ablaze, is in Gilgit Baltistan in the north, the only region administered by Pakistan where Shias are the plurality.
“A large number of protesters have gathered outside the UN office and burned down the building,” local government spokesperson Shabbir Mir told Reuters. The figure of 11 killed was provided by a government official and an intelligence official, both on condition of anonymity.
Protesters also took to the streets in other parts of Pakistan, carrying black flags and chanting “Down with America!” and anti-Israel slogans. In the central city of Lahore, police said hundreds gathered outside the US consulate. There were some small-scale clashes with police, who fired tear gas.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi urged protesters to remain peaceful. “We stand with you,” he said, adding that every Pakistani was as grief-stricken as the people of Iran.
In the capital Islamabad, all roads leading to the Red Zone, which houses diplomatic missions were blocked to traffic, police said. Police fired tear gas and live bullets when thousands of protesters tried to march toward the diplomatic enclave, killing two and injuring nearly 10, two officials said on condition of anonymity.
Elsewhere, protests took place in countries where Iran has influence. In Kano, a part of Nigeria with a sizable Shia Muslim minority, thousands marched peacefully, waving Iranian flags and pictures of Khamenei.
But in Western countries and other areas with large populations of Iranian exiles, many came out to celebrate.
In the crowd in Paris, some people held aloft portraits of loved ones killed under decades of Iran’s clerical rule. Others waved flags of Israel, the United States and France.
In Lisbon, exiled Iranians gathered outside the Iranian embassy.
“We had a party last night, up to 3 a.m. We danced, we chanted, we sang and sang, and that was really amazing,” said Maximilien Jazani, 57. Iranians “want to go to vote and to choose the kind of government they want.”
