PM okays UN Morocco conference delegation

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has given approval to the  names of the delegation that would participate in the upcoming world biggest Conference of the Parties (COP-22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled to be held in Morocco on November 7-18, sources told The News here on Thursday.

"The Ministry Of Climate Change had sent the summary to the prime minister seeking approval for the six names to be included in the delegation ," sources said, adding the names included Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid; Secretary, Climate Change Ministry, Abu Ahmad Akif, Adviser to the prime minister on Climate Change Rizwan Mehboob; Director General (Environment) in the climate change ministry, Irfan Tariq, Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Maj-Gen Asghar Nawaz and Senator Rozi Khan Kakar.

The sources said six names have been approved by the prime minister while fourteen more members would be selected by the ministry itself as these never need the approval from the highest authority.

"The other names would also include Deputy Secretary Climate Change Sajjad Haider, Director EPA (Islamabad) Farzana Shah, member disaster risk reduction of NDMA Ahmad Kamal and representatives of the provinces and administrative regions.

The visit of the delegation will cost Rs50 million in almost 12 days," the sources said. According to the official record, the participating countries would discuss various aspects of the Climate Fund worth 100 billion dollar that is supposed to be distributed among the developing countries, including Pakistan to help them cope with the climate change.

The sources said Pakistan remains one of the 10 most vulnerable countries globally to climate change, and it is technically more eligible to get an handsome share from the Climate Fund due to its size and population.

They said Pakistan is the leading country in a group of 138 countries called the G77 due to its size and population and vulnerability towards adverse effects of the climate change, and it would have a critical role in the conference in refining the details of the institutional arrangements for the climate finance.

It is pertinent to mention here that in 2009 at Copenhagen, developed countries had promised to deliver at least 100 billion dollar of finance every year to developing countries by 2020 to help mitigate the effects of the climate change.

The participation of Pakistan in the conference is also important because it has contested the opinion of the developed countries that the climate finance to developing countries would arrive not just in the form of aid but also in the form of loans and private sector investments.

Spokesman of the Climate Change Ministry Muhammad Saleem said the delegation has been carefully rolled out comprising top key climate change experts, who would attend the two-week UN-led annual biggest climate change conference beginning from November 7 in Morocco. 

“At the event, also called The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the delegation will highlight the country’s escalating vulnerability to the devastating fallout of global warming-induced climate change," he said.

Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid told The News that Pakistan, along with G-77 member countries, would press on developed countries to commit their climate finance pledges of 100 billion dollar annually.

He said that Pakistan is ranked the lowest carbon emitter but is among top 10 countries extremely vulnerable to climate change-induced disasters. Because of these impacts, the country has lost almost 80 billion dollar between 1995 and 2015 in socio-economic damage.