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Friday March 29, 2024

Govt seeks changes in provincial laws to control climate change

By our correspondents
April 29, 2017

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday sought amendments in the provincial laws to integrate climate change policies into planning and budget making process. 

Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid, during a meeting, also directed the officials to determine the spending requirements in all the provinces in order to prevent and curtail environmental losses.  

“Provincial laws should be amended through climate change council to integrate climate change in environmental impact assessments,” Hamid said in a statement. “The climate change financing framework should include most updated figures to determine the expenditures. 

He further said study about all provinces must be included in climate change financing framework. Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is formulating a climate change finance framework for efficient and effective use of public investments to deal with the climate change effects. 

The meeting discussed the progress of the framework’s preparation.  UNDP, in a report, said Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. It ranks 8th in the world in terms of long-term risks, and was the fifth worst affected country in 2014. 

It said the country, along with Philippines, features in the German watch list both in the long-term index and in the last four years’ lists of countries most-affected.  “With a poverty rate of 21 percent and a large proportion of the population dependent on agriculture (which contributes 23 percent to GDP) Pakistan must take the threat of climate change seriously,” it added. “The impacts of climate change cut across several aspects of life. Water, health, energy and food security are increasingly stressed, and in some areas can pose genuine concerns for livelihoods and even survival. These concerns particularly affect the poorest in society.”

The meeting was informed that the framework is also needed to have solid grounds through a mature public finance management to implement national climate change policy and seek international finance. 

The framework’s main pillars include budgetary and planning system, monitoring and accountability and oversight. Its draft has been developed and shared with the steering committee’s members and other stakeholders. 

Several rounds of consultations for the framework have been conducted. An annexure was added in climate change budget in brief 2016/17. The-budget call circular 2016-17 was also updated to add climate change dimension. 

Ministry’s officials told the meeting that the implementation committee on national climate change policy approved incorporation of climate change in principal component-1 in March and ministry of planning, development and reforms agreed in principal on incorporation. 

The climate change financing framework recommends systemic changes across government functions to mainstream climate change in planning and budgeting. It aims to help better manage and target domestic and international climate change finance.