Pakistan has become the first country in the world to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda (SDGA) as its own national development agenda (NDA) through a unanimous resolution in the National Assembly, besides developing an exclusive National Sustainable Development Strategy.
Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid told this to media persons here on Tuesday during a briefing on Pakistan's participation in COP-22. "Pakistan's participation in the COP-22 provided an opportunity to signify achievements made in addressing climate change despite being adversely impacted," he said.
The world community was informed that Pakistan's contribution to global warming is less than 1 percent of total annual global greenhouse gas emissions, he said, adding that Pakistan is still ranked among top ten countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.
Pakistan is faced with numerous major risks relating to climate change that include glacial melting, variable monsoons, recurrent floods, rise in sea level, higher average temperatures and higher frequency of droughts, he said. "These threats pose major survival concerns for Pakistan, particularly in relation to the country's water security, food security and energy security. They also have enormous adverse consequences for all socio-economic sectors, impeding our ability to promote sustainable growth and development and economic prosperity of our people," highlighted the minister.
He further added, "We also informed the world that Pakistan being a responsible member of the global community has taken substantial steps, especially during 2016 despite these challenges, which are greatly hampering our developmental needs. It will also enable us to contribute to the global mitigation efforts against climate change and keep the temperature rise below 2-degrees Celsius.
"Finalisation and submission of Pakistan INDCs to the UNFCCC Secretariat, which will serve as our climate change agenda, taking into account the latest situation relating to our development needs and strategies. It includes updated projections of greenhouse gases emissions and our national ambition to reduce these emissions, along with associated financial and technical implications," he said. Zahid Hamid said, "We included in the delegation those NGOs which are registered in the UNFCCC. We also need to work on energy efficiency and conservation as well."
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