ISLAMABAD; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed to constitute an expert committee on climate change to advise the federal government with regard to the strategies on the issues related to various aspects of climate change-related matters, for instance, climate finance, adaptation etc, loss and damage assessment.
While chairing the first meeting of the Pakistan Climate Change Council (PCCC) on Tuesday, the meeting was informed that the World Bank had estimated Pakistan’s recent flood losses at $40 billion. Pakistan faced 152 extreme events related to climate change in the last two decades and there was a 300 percent increase in Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF), the meeting was told.
It was further briefed that high-intensity heatwave persistence had increased to 41 days per year and Pakistan had the hottest cities in the world for straight three years with temperatures rising as high as 53.7 degree Celsius.
The prime minister has commended the initiative of the Ministry of Climate Change with regard to the constitution of the Climate Change Council and praised the federal minister for climate change for pleading the case of Pakistan with regard to climate change, globally.
The prime minister said that climate change-induced devastating floods caused havoc across the country, especially in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. Despite having less than one percent share in the global carbon emission, Pakistan is one of the 10 countries most affected by climate change, he underlined.
The prime minister urged the need to improve risk mapping, capacity building to access climate finance as well as loss and damage assessment ability. He also emphasized on including risk mitigation and adaptation in disaster management strategies to reduce damages in the future.
The prime minister also stressed the need for better coordination among the federating units on environmental issues as the environment was a devolved subject after the 18th Constitutional amendment.
The meeting was briefed that this year, Pakistan suffered overwhelming events such as severe drought (that dried the delta area of Sindh province), forest fires, heat waves, glacier melting at three times the average rate, glacial outbreak floods followed by heavy monsoon rains, were induced by climate change.
The participants were further briefed that the upcoming 27th Conference of Parties (COP) under the United Nations, to be held in Egypt in November 2022, would provide Pakistan with an opportunity to present its stance on vulnerability with regard to the effects of climate change, water scarcity, food security, sea level rise and increase in climate-induced migration.
The meeting was apprised that being a chair of Group 77 countries, Pakistan would also be pleading the case of the member countries with regard to the effects of climate change.
The participants of the meeting while appreciating the initiative of the federal government emphasized the need of devising a National Adaptation Plan and strict implementation of the existing environmental laws to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The PCCC is constituted under Pakistan Climate Change Act, 2017. The current PCCC was notified on 29th August 2022. The Council is headed by the Prime Minister with 26 official and 20 non-official members.
The function of the council is to advise and coordinate Pakistan’s international commitments on climate change and environmental issues, mainstreaming climate change concerns into decision-making and implementation of comprehensive adaptation and mitigation policies.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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