ISLAMABAD: With temperatures already crossing 52 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country, the United Nations (UN), Wednesday, called for collective action to adapt to the new age of global warming.
Addressing the World Environment Day here, jointly organised by the UN, the Aga Khan Foundation, and the Ministry of Climate Change, Mohamed Yahya, the UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan said that to deal with climate change, joint efforts should be made to tackle issues such as pollution, deforestation, rapid glacial melt, floods, droughts, and heat waves.
Yahya said that last week, temperatures in Pakistan crossed 52 degrees Celsius and authorities cannot turn their backs on such a situation and need to take collective action to adapt to the new age of global warming.
During the ceremony, Pakistan’s “Living Indus” initiative officially received the World Restoration Flagship award which the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced in March; UNEP supports Pakistan’s National Adaptation Plan for building resilience to climate change. Living Indus is a government-led initiative, which the UN supports, to restore the ecological health of the Indus River Basin. By supporting “Living Indus” and a range of innovative programmes, UN agencies aim to help them protect and restore nature, biodiversity, water sources, as well as their lives and livelihoods.
Later, speaking at an event jointly organised by the Ministry of Climate Change, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), the Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Climate Change, Romina Khurshid Alam said the country had envisioned to restore 100,000 hectares degraded land and intend to achieve six percent forest cover of the total area.
Alam said the theme for World Environment Day 2024 was a timely reminder of the crucial importance of protecting and conserving our environment.
She said due to galloping impacts of global warming and environmental degradation 3/4th of the country’s land would be affected by land degradation.
“Pakistan only utilises 16 million hectares of land for irrigation and many of its parts are impacted by land logging and salinity,” Romina said.
The incumbent government has shown unwavering resolve in addressing climate change under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif whose vision was instrumental in shaping and driving the government’s policies, she added.
Pakistan has to build resilience across our systems and communities and the National Adaptation Plan further sheds light on addressing land degradation and rehabilitation of degraded lands which is important for sustainable livelihoods and production of our agriculture sector. She said that everybody from local communities, civil society organisations, academia and governments would have to fight collectively to heal the land.
SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri noted that the spring season has almost vanished from our seasonal calendar as from winters there was a direct transition into sizzling summers. “It’s impacting our entire ecosystem, world and our region. Climate change manifestation is visible in the form of erratic and intensive rainfall, whereas, 2022 floods rains in Balochistan were of biblical proportions, not manageable by any nation on earth due to its massive magnitude,” Suleri said.
He commented that drought had a slow onset and its impacts were observed when it was too late, as with changing weather, there were two phenomena mainly floods that are visible and the other was slow like a silent killer invisible mainly, drought, lack of rains, desertification and dropping crop yields.
Technical Advisor UNEP Arshad Samad Khan said climate change has aggravated land degradation.
”World Environment Day is a call for all government, private sector, students, common citizens and others to restore degraded land and ensure bright future for coming generations,” he said.
He added that land is the foundation of food security water resources and livelihoods and demands a national pledge to make Pakistan a land of thriving biodiversity and ecosystems.
During the panel discussion, Dr Mazhar Hayat, deputy secretary Ministry of Climate Change said the country can learn from Saudi Arabia aggressively working on degraded land restoration under the Green Saudi Initiative and Middle East Green Initiative. He said Pakistan has a comprehensive policy framework under the National Adaptation Plan that collectively addresses land degradation, water and others.
“Pakistan’s major focus has always been on adaptation, afforestation, drought resilience, and deforestation,” he said. Climate change is a water challenge for Pakistan that demands efficient water use at urban level, and less water usage at farm level, he added.
Maryam Shabbir, climate expert University of Vermont said land degradation was mainly due to overgrazing of animals and chemical usage during agriculture. She said livelihood and food security issue emerges after the drought onset, whereas, the right plantation, capacity building and relevant experts to ensure effective strategies.
Federal Flood Commission Chairman Ahmed Kamal said there was a lack of urban planning and poorly planned infrastructure development was aggravating climate crises amid recurring natural disasters.
The legislation implementation was at the third tier of the governance that needs to be addressed, he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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