Pakistan among seriously affected countries by global warming: National Assembly told

Pakistan is one of the seriously affected countries by global warming, as annual temperature increased by an average of 0.6 degree celsius during the last century, Minister for Environment Samina Khalid Ghurki informed National Assembly on Thursday.
In a written reply to the House, Ghurki said that during the last century, average annual temperature in Pakistan increased by 0.6 C, in agreement with the global trend, with the increase in northern Pakistan being higher than southern Pakistan (0.8 C versus 0.5 C).
However, she added that there was no globally accepted report on categorisation/listing of most vulnerable countries from impacts of rising temperature. She said that studies based on several global circulation models (GCMs) project that the average temperature over Pakistan will increase in the range 1.3-1.5 C by 2020s, 2.5-2.8 C by 2050s and 3.9-4.4 C by 2080s, corresponding to an increase in average global surface temperature by 2.8-3.4 C by the turn of 21st century, according to Task Force on Climate Change Report of February, 2010 by Planning Commission, she added.
About the impacts and difficulties to be faced by Pakistan due to the rising temperature, she said these would include increased variability of monsoon, rapid recession of Hindu Kush Karakuram-Himalayan glaciers threatening water flows into the Indus River System, reduction in capacity of natural reservoirs due to glacier melt, increased risk of floods and droughts, increase of silt in major dams, severer water shortage along with heat were leading indicators of low agri productivity and power generation.
Besides, she added that it would also cause increasing upstream intrusion of saline water adversely affecting coastal agriculture, mangroves and breeding grounds of fish and threat to low lying areas from sea level rise and cyclonic activity due to increased sea surface temperature. About the steps taken by the government to face the challenges posed by climate change and global warming, she said that Climate Change Committee headed by the Prime Minister had been established
A Task Force on Climate Change was constituted under the Planning Commission, which submitted its report in February, 2010, she said adding that based on the findings of the Task Force report, Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the ONE UN Joint Programme on Environment (UN JPE) has developed draft of the National Policy on Climate Change, which has already been shared and consulted with all the provincial governments, Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK.
She said that the final version of the Policy would be submitted shortly to the Cabinet for approval. While National Plan of Action based on the guidelines of the National Climate Change Policy is being developed, she further said. Pakistan is actively engaged in the Global Climate Change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
She further said that a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Cell was established in the Ministry of Environment to increase awareness of stakeholders and partners in CDM activities under Koyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC.
The project aims to enhance technical capacity of the project proponents in development, implementation, monitoring and assessment of the CDM project in the country, she said, adding that the Ministry has accorded host country approval to 30 CDM projects, which have been submitted to the Executive Board of the UNFCCC Secretariat for approval/funding by various donors.
Ghurki said that the CDM project aims to bring foreign investments into the country and will also reduce GHG emissions and promote transfer of technology and job creation. She further said that Pakistan joined the Mangrove for Future (MFF) Programme in the region to increase the mangrove forests along the coastlines of Sindh and Balochistan.
The forests are vital to protect national installations and local communities along the coastline areas, she said. Besides, she added that phasing out of lead from Petrol has been achieved and sulphur from diesel has been reduced, while CNG vehicles/ buses have been introduced to the system due to awareness. A project of launching some 8000 CNG buses is under the process of approval/implementation, she further informed.