Climate change: Link national security to human security: experts

ISLAMABAD: Climate experts called for linking national security with human security in a virtual conference on climate change and its impacts on Pakistan here on Wednesday. The conference titled "Framing Pakistan's Climate Profile 2020-2030: Future Projections and Pathways to Resilience" was jointly organized by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) and Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC).

Experts from Pakistan as well as abroad were of the view that human security had not been prioritized in Pakistan and called for greater attention toward climate security, food security, climate vulnerability, disaster mitigation, and management of internal migration. The participants of the conference also called for greater regional cooperation on climatic issues in South Asia.

Water security emerged as one of the key subjects discussed during the conference. Dr Ghulam Rasool, Regional Programme Manager - MENRIS, Mountain Environment Regional Information System (MENRIS) warned that if the current trends of warming continued, one-third of the glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region could melt by the year 2100. He further stated that water security was the first to be affected by climate change.

Dr Abid Qayum Sulehri, the Executive Director of the Sustainable Development Police Institute (SDPI), called for better policies for ensuring food security.

Basharat Saeed, Water Resources Specialist at the World Bank, called for better regulation of surface and groundwater use through licensing and charging of levies for securing a water-secure future for Pakistan. Dr Azeem Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), was of the view that the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam scheduled for completion in 2028 would ease the water-related climatic pressures on Pakistan.

Maj Gen Asghar Nawaz (retd), Chief Executive/Managing Director of two thermal power plants of Fauji Foundation at emphasized the important role that could be played by the Local Governments if they were involved in climate response in Pakistan.

Amb Nadeem Riyaz, the President of IRS, called for raising awareness among the masses on climate change and involving communities in climate responses.

Other speakers of the conference were the Chief Executive of CSCCC Aisha Khan, Ahmad Kamal Federal Flood Commission, CEA/CFFC, Dr Arif Goher, Senior Scientific Officer at Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), Islamabad. Lt-Gen (retd) Omar Hayat Former Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Dr Usman Mustafa Senior Consultant with Pakhtunkhwa Economic Policy Research Institute (PEPRI), AWK University, Mardan, and Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel.-PR

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