Romina to head task force on global warming

Islamabad:Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made changes to the Task Force on Global Warming and Heatwave. Coordinator to the prime minister on climate change Romina Khurshid Alam will head the body, while its members include the secretaries of the ministries of climate change, water resources, food security, information and broadcasting, and national health, according to an official notification.

The National Disaster Management Authority's chairman, Pakistan Meteorological Department's director-general, and the chief secretaries of provinces as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan will also be part of the taskforce, which, the notification said, will take stock of immediate preparedness and response measures to the ongoing heat wave in the country and will coordinate with the PMD for early warning.

It will also prepare an action plan on precautionary and mitigating measures with specific timelines to be undertaken by ministries and agencies regarding the ongoing heat wave. "The task force will prepare a comprehensive information / public communication strategy for public awareness with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in lead. The strategy will make use of IT-based communications channels including social media and SMS, for dissemination of messages in an effective manner."

The notification also said the body would take stock of water shortages in the agriculture sector and develop standing operating procedures for water conservation on a short and medium-term basis.

The task force will finalise its recommendations for a medium-to-long term strategy to meet the challenge of global warming and greenhouse gases emissions with reference to Pakistan in the context of the country's international commitments.