Climate Change is serious challenge if not addressed

Islamabad : Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said that climate change is a serious global challenge and if concrete steps not taken on time, the coming decades would be more disastrous.

Mr Aslam was addressing the “Consultative meeting with the parliamentarians on Climate Change and National REDD+ Strategy” organised here by Sustainable Development Policy Institute and CHIP Training & Consulting (Pvt) Limited, More than twenty five parliamentarians and many civil society members attended the consultative meeting.

Malik Amin said that REDD plus (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is an innovative idea to conserve the rain forests and that the PTI-led government will support the REDD plus initiative and looking forwards to the finalisation of international mechanism of benefit sharing under the REDD plus programme.

He said that unless we have the minimum value for the carbon credits stocks in the forest, the challenge to make REDD plus a success would remain there. The billion tree tsunami program in Pakhtoonkhwa was a success story and now 10 billion trees tsunami is an ambitious goal of PTI government to combat deforestation and Climate Change by planting trees throughout the country, he added.

Federal Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul Wazir said that forests are green lungs for our planet earth and we can save our villages and cities by protecting our forests and environment. She said that we must educate our future generation on the importance of forests and clean and green environment for our survival. For that we should include the lessons on forest and clean environment in our text books and syllabus, she added.

We should own our country and keep our surrounding clean and green. We also have to change our mentality and attitude towards environment and cleanness, said Zartaj Gul. She said that the forest is now the provincial subject and there is need of enhanced coordination between federation and provinces for effective implementation of policies and programs.

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said that there is need to discuss holistically the issues around environment, economy and social sector for the sustainable development. He said that it is unfortunate that we politicise the issues around environment and economy, and now we all bearing the brunt. We need collective political wisdom to combat our shared challenges, he added.

Mohammad Tayyab, Deputy Team Leader and Communication Specialist-National REDD+ Strategy and Implementation Framework while briefing the parliamentarians said that REDD plus mechanism is an opportunity to counter the deforestation and climate change. He said that climate change ministry has developed the national REDD+ strategy and implement framework. To implement the REDD+ strategies, we need to strengthen current arrangements (such as National Steering Committee, regularisation of National REDD+ Office), creation of the National Management Committee, engaging relevant ministries to be sensitive to and participate in REDD+ and strengthening provincial capacity for REDD+. He said that major drivers of deforestation in Pakistan include poor law enforcement and governance, unsustainable timber extraction by timber mafia, variability in water availability and quality, unsustainable agriculture and cattle raising expansion, unsustainable fuel wood extraction and prevailing poverty. We may require changes in current legislative framework at all levels. He requested the legislators to promote meaningful debate in respective provincial assemblies to affect the required changes to the provincial forest laws.

Parliamentarians across the political parties applauded the SDPI and CHIP Training & Consulting efforts to educate them on technical and important challenges around the environment. They were agree to leave their political differences behind and continue to do work for the betterment of the people and society at large.