Duke demands progress during visit to glacier
Royal couple call for action on climate change as they follow in Diana’s footsteps in mountains of Pakistan
IT WAS a northern corner of Pakistan that enchanted his mother and now, three decades later, the Duke of Cambridge returned to see how it is being threatened by climate change.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent the second full day of their Pakistan tour in the spectacular Chitral valley close to the border with Afghanistan.
As the couple continued to use the visit to highlight the links between Britain and Pakistan, and environmental concerns, even the helicopter carrying the couple carried memories of previous Royal visits. Flying in to Chitral from Islamabad, the couple were given Chitrali caps, echoing the same headgear worn by Princess Diana on her visit in 1991.
En route to the Chiatibo glacier by helicopter, the royal couple were told that the same aircraft had ferried the Queen in 1961 and the Prince of Wales in 2006. Surveying the glacier, which is melting at a rate of 10m per year because of rising temperatures, the Duke called for “more education, more awareness and political action” to tackle climate change.
Pakistan is estimated to have more glacial ice than anywhere outside the polar regions, but temperature rises are causing 70 per cent of them to recede. Glaciers in the Himalayan, Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain ranges, which all converge in Pakistan, are estimated to provide water for 1.6 billion people.
The Duke, who studied geography at university, said the couple had wanted to “use our voice and lend our position and our visit to kind of talk about issues like climate change, issues about the environment”.
He joked that his former geography teacher, Dr Warren, “would be well impressed that I’m back at a glacier after all these years”.
“I’ve been very impressed by William’s geography,” a smiling Kate added.
The Duke said he was encouraged by young people highlighting the issue, but said “action needs to happen very soon”. He added: “A lot of people rely on this and if we take too long about this, we will lose many of the precious things we care about.”
The risks of melting glaciers were illustrated to the couple during a visit to a nearby village that had been destroyed by a glacial flood in 2015.
Bumburet has been rebuilt, and the villagers, from the Kalash minority, turned out to meet the couple, who were clapped and cheered as they walked up through the narrow, streets and into the open square.
Women in traditional headdresses and bright clothing danced for the couple before the Duchess introduced her husband and remarked: “I’m sorry he didn’t dance, too!”
The Duchess also attempted to learn a few words of the local Kalasha dialect, asking the dancers how she should say “thank you”.
Villagers told vivid stories of the day the flood had destroyed their homes.
Shahi Gul, a mother of six said: “My village is beautiful. During the flood in 2015, beautiful greenery, lands, everything was washed away. All the food, everything, was washed away, our whole culture. But we had no money to give good education to our children. Still now we are not financially strong.”