Islamabad, October 28, 2025 ( ): Speakers at a seminar on Tuesday underscored the urgent need for regional cooperation to strengthen climate resilience and prevent conflicts arising from resource scarcity, as countries prepare for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil. The seminar, titled “Strengthening Regional Climate Resilience: The Resource-Conflict Nexus,” was organised by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) as part of a strategic policy dialogue series leading up to COP30. Minister of State for Climate Change Dr. Shezra Mansab Ali Khan Kharal outlined Pakistan’s climate diplomacy priorities, highlighting the global financing gap that continues to hinder developing nations’ adaptation efforts. She said Pakistan’s COP30 agenda would focus on climate finance, just transition, and amplifying the agency of the Global South, proposing the creation of regional task forces led by policy think tanks such as the IRS to drive coordinated climate action. Senator Sitara Ayaz, Secretary General of the International Parliamentarians Congress (IPC), called for enhanced regional coordination on shared environmental threats such as glacial melt, smog, and heatwaves. She urged parliamentarians to integrate climate realities into governance frameworks, saying: “The time for fragmented responses is over; the region must unite against a common climate challenge.” IRS President Ambassador Jauhar Saleem warned that dwindling natural resources and rising geopolitical tensions were intensifying the risk of resource-driven conflicts. Referring to recent extreme weather in Islamabad, he said that finite resources and escalating conflict are converging dangerously. Dr. Khalid Mehmood Shafi, Director for Environmental Security at ISSRA–NDU, described climate change as a critical security threat, calling for recognition of the role of the military in adaptation planning and the inclusion of military emissions in global climate data. From Afghanistan, Abdulhadi Achakzai, CEO of the Environment Protection Training and Development Organisation (EPTDO), highlighted the country’s deepening vulnerability to droughts, flash floods, and chronic water scarcity, stressing that regional cooperation was vital for shared resilience. Indian renewable energy expert Manoj Kumar Jain noted that land, air, and water are becoming flashpoints of competition, and called for a rapid energy transition and stronger resource governance to prevent “green conflicts” across South Asia. Economic security adviser Faheem Sardar analysed the geopolitical dimensions of climate finance, urging Pakistan to adopt a clear, strategic approach in negotiations, particularly in leveraging its mineral wealth for sustainable development. The seminar concluded with a consensus that climate change poses a multidimensional threat, environmental, economic, and security-related, requiring a united regional response ahead of COP30.