Challenges facing humanity: UN urged to play role

Global economy, corporate interest are less important in nuclear disarmament

ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a public talk have said that global economy, corporate interest and private sector are less important in nuclear disarmament but a more significant factor in climate change scenario.

They were speaking on Tuesday at an event titled “Climate Change, Nuclear Disarmament and Humane Global Governance”, organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI).

Former UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur on Palestine Professor Dr Richard Anderson Falk spoke about short comings of the international arrangement which cater to existential threats to humanity.

“The problems among states are solved in a few basic ways, like through multilateral consensus among states to serve humanity but the international system or structure does not have adequate qualities or framework to uphold these global values,” he said.

“The government should take the responsibility of either who generated these problems or who solves them,” Dr Falk said.

One of the problematic area of climate change was the degree of the harms which were caused by it and were concentrated and affecting those communities that were not responsible for generating the problem, he added.

Dr Hilal Elver, a research professor and fellow at the University of California, said the fear factor was very important in mobilising societies to force their governments and this fear with regards to nuclear weapons and climate change was one stark distinction.

“The concept of security during the cold war was based on territorial defence, but now it had changed to human security, which is the humane part of global governance and security,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2016.