Staff Report ISD: In a conference on Climate Change in Safranbolu, Turkey, Arif Ahmed Khan, Federal Secretary of Ministry of Climate Change remarked that steps in context of their efforts must be instigated for eradication of poverty and promotion of sustainable development. He urged global community to play their role and ensure new global climate agreement and its implementation from 2020. The agreement is imperative and offers pragmatic solutions to eradicate poverty and sustainable development.
He expressed his concern to developed countries and urged them to be forefront in this regard to ensure to align their activities in compliance with the framework of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
While addressing at three day Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), International Conference on Climate Change, Mr. Khan said,” We are at the crossroads and Climate Change is the defining issue of our times. It not only post risk to sustained economic growth and development but also intensifies existing political, social, economic and security challenges. Besides, it poses additional stress on our resources and serves as impediment to the whole spectrum of socio-economic development. “
The three-day ECO conference, kicked on March 25,2015 in Safranbolu, Turkey, was attended by top key government and non-governmental representatives of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Talking about Pakistans contribution to global warming, he told the ECO conference participants that Pakistan is playing its part as far as environmental safety is concerned. Pakistan is amongst least global carbon contributing countries. He further stated that, “We are threatened in multiple ways. Climate-induced drought, desertification, glacial-melt, sea level rise and recurrent floods, are just to name a few,” Mr. Arif Ahmed Khan said.
Nationally, Pakistan has developed a comprehensive policy and strategy to address Climate Change at all levels and in all socio-economic sectors, particularly water, agriculture and energy, he demonstrated to the global community.
Given our extreme vulnerability to climate change, the adaptation remains countrys essential priority, he stressed and added, “We have also adopted a comprehensive approach on disaster risk reduction and management. Our mitigation efforts cover energy as a high priority followed by transport, town planning, agriculture etc. We are working to change the energy mix on the basis of our meager resources to reduce carbon emissions.”
“The magnitude of climate finance required in this regard, is enormous. According to various estimates, Pakistan alone will require an additional 10 billion US$ annually to adapt to climate change impacts. Our mitigation requirements range from 18 billion US$ in 2014/15 to 45 billion US$ in 2050,” he said. Hence, the operationalization of Green Climate Fund is a step in right direction. The pledges for initial capitalization of Green Climate Fund are encouraging. But, these are still far from the commitment of 100 billion dollars a year as committed by the rich countries.