LHC constitutes 'Climate Change Commission'

-The Lahore High Court has constituted a "Climate Change Commission" for effective implementation of National Climate Change Policy, 2012 (NCCP) and the framework for Implementation of Climate Change Policy (2014-2030). Dr Pervaiz Hasan advocate would head the 21-member commission as its chairman.
The members include Secretary Ministry of Climate Change, Secretary Ministry of Water and Power, Secretary Ministry of Finance Revenue and Planning and Development, Director General of National Disaster Management Authority, Director General of International Organisation/ Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary Irrigation Department, Government of Punjab, Secretary Agricultural Department, Secretary Food Department, Secretary Forest Department, Secretary Health Department, Director Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Secretary Environment Protection Department, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, CEO & National Program Director, LEAD Pakistan, Hamad Naqi, Director General WWF, Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, Manager Islamabad Program Office, IUCN, Abid Solehri CEO, SDPI, Advocate Saima Amin Khwaja, Assistant Advocate General Punjab Anwaar Hussain, Advocate Mansoor Usman Awan and Irfan Tariq, D.G. (Environment), Ministry of Climate Change, Islamabad.
The Commission shall have the power to co-opt any person/expert, at any stage. It can seek assistance of any federal or provincial government ministries/departments in writing and the concerned ministries/departments have been directed to render full assistance to the Commission in respect of its Terms of References (ToRs). The Commission would hold its first meeting on October 1 and file a primarily report before the court on October 5.The court passed these direction in a petition filed by an agriculturalist Asghar Leghari highlighting challenges of climate change.
The petitioner submitted that overwhelming majority of scientists, experts, and professional scientific organisations related to earth sciences agreed that there were sufficient evidences of climate change. He said no one could deny the devastating impact of increase in frequency and intensity of climate extremes. He said the experts agreed that the major cause, the heat trapping CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, which were increasing global temperature and in turn causing climate change. The petitioner stated that for Pakistan, climate change was no longer a distant threat as the country was already feeling and experiencing its impacts.