Islamabad: Senator Sherry Rehman, Vice President of the Pakistan Peoples Party, has issued a stark warning on the devastating 2025 mega monsoon, calling it a lethal combination of global climate change and local institutional failure.
Speaking from Islamabad, Sherry Rehman said that the floods have hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the hardest, causing deadly landslides that have erased entire villages, left thousands homeless, and forced widespread displacement. Rescue operations have been severely hindered due to helicopter crashes, and districts like Swat, Chitral, Dir, Kohistan, and Shangla remain in crisis. She emphasized that forests-which naturally reduce the impact of floods-have been systematically destroyed by illegal logging, fires, and poor land management, reducing Pakistan's forest cover to a mere 5%, the lowest in South Asia. According to local accounts, Swat has already lost 40% of its forests, with a dire warning that up to 70% could vanish if action is not taken.
She noted that the much-publicized Billion Tree Tsunami campaign was crippled by corruption and flood damage, and highlighted how land mafias, weak enforcement of bans, and overnight changes to land-use laws have enabled unchecked deforestation and construction along rivers and green zones. Despite receiving $188 million from the World Bank for early warning systems, Pakistan still lags behind regional peers like Bangladesh and Nepal, with funds diverted during past emergencies. Unregulated plastic waste, illegal urbanization, and blocked waterways have further amplified the destruction. 'Pakistan is losing 27,000 hectares of forest each year, and glacial melt, erratic rainfall, and recurring floods now directly threaten our economy and food security,' she warned.
Sherry Rehman stressed that national and provincial climate plans remain largely on paper, and disaster management only reacts during crises. She called for immediate reforms including afforestation, green infrastructure, renewable energy adoption, and effective environmental regulation. 'To survive the age of climate collapse, Pakistan must restore credibility, unlock climate finance, and put policy into action-before it's too late,' she concluded.