Implementation of climate change strategies reviewed

Islamabad:The National Climate Change Authority met here to discuss the implementation of strategies outlined in the national climate change policy for enhancing climate resilience across multiple socioeconomic sectors, especially in energy, water, agriculture, and public infrastructure.

The discussions extensively covered future actions to improve collaborations among the relevant federal and provincial government agencies in tackling diverse climate-related challenges, particularly floods, heat waves, glacial lake outburst floods, changing rainfall patterns, altered river flows, and groundwater depletion.

The participants also considered initiatives for formulating and coordinating the ongoing and future plans, projects, and programs focused on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience-building, ensuring compliance with the country's commitments under international agreements, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Coordinator to the prime minister on climate change Romina Khurshid Alam said the government was increasingly focusing on climate change resilience of Pakistan, recognising that the country is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, including extreme weather events, floods, droughts, and glacial melt.

“We [government] are committed to enhancing Pakistan’s climate resilience by protecting people, their lives and livelihoods from the adverse impacts of climate change by utilising all available resources, capacity and technical know-how,” she said. Climate change secretary Aisha Humera Moriani highlighted Pakistan’s growing climate vulnerability and exacerbating impacts of the climate change-induced disasters.

She said Pakistan was among the countries most affected by climate change, despite contributing relatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions. “For tackling these climate risks as a environmentally-responsible country, the government is shaping its response to the climate risks in the light of its national policies, international commitments and regional initiatives aimed at strengthening climate resilience and reducing vulnerability, particularly for the most affected communities in marginalised and poverty-hit parts of the country,” she said.

The participants also deliberated upon plans and programmes for the country’s transition towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. They agreed to roll out a road map for prioritising climate actions so as to take forward the country’s climate resilience-building in close coordination and collaboration with the provinces and other relevant stakeholders.