ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change, Zahid Hamid has said that Pakistan is fully


committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.


Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day National Roundtable conference on Sustainable


Consumption and Production (SCP) National Action Plan the federal minister said, “On February


19, Pakistan registered a history and became the first country in the world whose National


Assembly passed a unanimous Resolution adopting the SDGs Agenda as its own national


development agenda,”


He further added that the resolution not only reflected the broad political support for the SDGs


but also clearly indicated that SDGs were now Pakistan’s development agenda. Prime Minister


Nawaz Sharif, he asserted, was present at the UN Summit for the adoption of the Post-2015


Development Agenda in New York in September last year.


It was also said that the SDG 12 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aimed to


ensure sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns. It was necessary to make


fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume goods and services to meet this


goal, Hamid added.


The minister asserted that a sound management of natural resources was required to effectively


govern the environment, which could then bring about a paradigm shift from an environmentally


insensitive development to an inclusive, equitable and balanced economic growth, which was


driven by sound natural resource management, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and


resource efficiency.


He added that Pakistan needed to adopt “Green Growth” concept to achieve SCP Goals, which


involved the implementation of policies that promote climate-resilient, environmentally-


sustainable economic progress and foster low-carbon, socially inclusive development at the same


time. The conversion to a “Green Economy” also required major economy-wide structural and


technological changes, comprising the ‘greening’ of key sectors, such as energy, urban


infrastructure, transportation, industry and agriculture, `greening’ of investments, creation of


`green’ jobs, and facilitation of `green’ trade, he elaborated.


“Our plan to address SCP in Pakistan consists of, engaging all concerned from the federal and


provincial government, ministries divisions and departments and other stakeholders for


representation in the national multi-stakeholder technical committee,” he added. Hamid noted


that the meeting of the multi-stakeholder technical committee would be held in Islamabad where


all provincial headquarters would discuss the national action plan priority components on


Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and draft National Sustainable Development


Strategy (NSDG).


The minister further apprised that these documents would be circulated to all federal and


provincial government agencies and other concerned institutions for their comments.


The draft National Action Plan and NSDS will be discussed in the national multi-stakeholder technical


committee and will be revised accordingly. The revised NAP and NSDS would be presented for


approval at the high-level meeting. The NAP and NSDS will be circulated to all federal and


provincial governments, ministries divisions and departments and other stakeholders for their


implementation to facilitate the integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)


principles in the national and provincial policies and strategies as well as the implementation of


the SDGs.


He then asserted, “Pakistan needs large-scale investments in ‘Green Growth,’ including green


technologies, climate-resilient buildings and infrastructure development which utilises fewer


materials and energy and produce fewer emissions and waste. We are raising awareness and


building capacity for efficient utilisation of resources and SCP at national and provincial levels


and mobilising domestic financial and human resources for this purpose. The focus of our efforts


is not limited to just improving production, but also to support consumers to move towards


sustainable consumption choice.”


Hamid said that the Prime Minister’s Green Pakistan Program would be formally launched soon,


which was aimed at arresting the natural resource degradation and mitigating the climate change


impacts. It was also noted that the programme envisaged planting more than 100 million trees


over the next five years all over the country. Apart from reclaiming and developing forest areas,


the program also seeks to protect and manage wildlife resources, in line with the best


international practices, he asserted. He remarked that the initiative would ensure far-reaching


reforms in the forestry and wildlife sectors and make a significant contribution to the ecology,


biodiversity, food security and economic growth.

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