The Ministry of Environment has finalised energy conservation law, which is likely to be placed in the cabinet for approval. This was stated by Minister for Environment Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi while addressing the inaugural session of two-day international conference on "climate change and development" organised by Ministry of Environment in collaboration with United Nations here on Thursday.
The minister also announced that climate change policy would be placed next year after going into extensive consultative process. "The climate change has serious global implications for Pakistan, as manifested during the last few years in shape of earthquake and devastating flood. Pakistan has suffered from worst draught, strong heat waves, cyclones, erratic monsoons, glaciers melting and devastating heavy rains in the recent history", Afridi added.
He further said that global warming is haunting the world at large and South Asia in particular. During last few years, climate change has become a major world-wide concern, the minister added. "Ministry of Environment has focused on developing a long term strategic framework for climate change and striving to improve the capacity of the national and provincial governance," said Afridi, adding that Pakistan has been proactively leading the on-going international negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. As the Chair of G-77 China and Pakistan played a constructive role in seeking consensus on the Bali Plan of Action, he added.
Afridi urged that the time has now come to realise the need to mainstream climate change concerns into the larger development paradigm. The Ministry is focusing on developing a long term strategic framework for climate change focusing mainly on adaptation needs, to provide a sustainable basis for socio-economic growth in consultation with the relevant stakeholders including the public and private sector, he added.
The minister further said that Ministry of Environment is actively endeavouring to create a framework, which could spark relevant and specific policies and interventions needed to address the issue of environment through increased institutional capacity, mainstreaming environmental concerns in development planning for sustainable growth and generally improving the quality of life by decreasing poverty and arresting environmental degradation. He also hoped that through this conference common understanding would be developed to meet the challenges and threats posed by climate change.