Faris conceived and developed the Pakistani Climate Refugees Rights and Protection Bill.

Name: Faris Uddin Ahmed( AS student)
Work: Pakistani Climate Refugees Rights and Protection Bill, 2024
Commencement of Work: March 2024
Date on which Bill was tabled in the National Assembly: Oct. 22, 2024

Faris Ahmed’s interest in climate advocacy has been impassioned. It is what led to his working at the Islamabad office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), where he developed a social media toolkit for the dignified treatment of conflict and climate refugees. His bronze-winning essay from the 2024 Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition also focused on the climate crisis. Additionally, he has recently completed a guided-research paper on climate change and reparations with historian and activist Ammar Ali Jan. He has also written in the national press on the subject.

Faris conceived and developed the Pakistani Climate Refugees Rights and Protection Bill, 2024, with a number of lawmakers including former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. If passed into law, Pakistan will become the first country ever to recognize climate refugees as their own classification, making resource mobilization and rehabilitation efforts more targeted.

This bill was tabled in the National Assembly of Pakistan on Oct. 22, 2024. Muhammad Moin Aamer Pirzada, a member of Parliament from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement party, proposed the bill and thanked and acknowledged Faris’s contributions to climate advocacy on the floor of the House. Mr. Pirzada’s remarks were carried live on Pakistan Television (PTV) and are part of the National Assembly’s permanent record. The bill is now in committee for deliberation.