Pathways to Development: Top Quotes from Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah
Share
On December 16, as part of the Pathway to Development Conference session on 'Climate Justice: Legal and Policy Challenges in the Face of a Climate Emergency', Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, gave a powerful address on the urgency of climate action. Here are some of his most thought-provoking quotes from the session.
Climate change is here for real, and it is the greatest existential challenge for our generation.
Pakistan makes a tiny contribution to total global greenhouse gas emissions, but it is the eighth most affected country in the world.
For the global South, climate justice introduced a significant shift in jurisprudence. It demanded a more sophisticated and inclusive approach, one that accounts for multidimensional impacts of climate change across multiple sectors.
We need remedies that go beyond retributive measures against polluters and instead adopt restorative and rehabilitative approaches. Courts are now required to design adaptive remedies to protect the rights and dignities of communities disproportionately affected by climate change.
Climate change may be global but the solutions are not shared equally. For a country like Pakistan, which is highly vulnerable to climate change, the availability of robust financial resources is critical for building resilience and protecting its people.
It has become increasingly clear that without adequate financing, advancing the environmental agenda is simply not feasible. Sustainable progress in environmental protection and climate action requires robust financial backing.
For Pakistan, climate finance is not merely a tool or policy. It is the foundation of hope for the future where every citizen can live with dignity, security and promise of a better tomorrow. Climate finance is about restoring justice in a system that is fundamentally skewed against the global South. It is a moral imperative. Without climate finance, our right to life, which is Article 9 of the Constitution, our right to human dignity, which is Article 14, is under threat to our understanding. Therefore, climate finance in countries from the global South like Pakistan is fundamentally a human right.
We need accountability, fairness and funds that address our realities, not token gestures.
