Malik Amin Aslam, former Federal State Minister for Environment, said that the economy of Pakistan annually suffered an accumulated loss of 14 billion dollars due to climate change, which is almost five percent of country's gross domestic product (GDP).
He said this while addressing a seminar titled, "Outcomes of post Durban Climate Change Negotiations" organised by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (Pide) here on Thursday. While giving a detailed presentation on the occasion, Amin Aslam said the Durban Climate Change Negotiations were very important platform to discuss the three challenges like resuscitate the Kyoto Protocol, deliver climate finance to vulnerable countries and how to survive in the overall economic recession.
Talking about its implication on Pakistan, he said Pakistan was a very low emitter, but one of the worst victims of climate change, as Germanwatch places Pakistan as 'most affected' for 2010 and in top 10 for 1990-2010. He said in Pakistan maximum natural disasters (90 percent) were climate related and the damage costs of those natural disasters was going up with the top three disasters occurring in the past three years. "Most alarming thing is that the frequency of these natural disasters is going up with 60 percent occurring in the past 10 years."
Talking about the Durban Negotiations, he lamented, "All tough decisions frustratingly delayed like the final shape of second CP of Kyoto Protocol was delayed till 2012, emission cuts on carbon polluter countries delayed till 2020, decisions on how large the cuts would be till 2015, delivery of climate finance till 2020, but only thing rescued was 'a fruitless negotiation process'."
Pide Vice Chancellor Dr Rashid Amjad said that unfortunately such global conferences were becoming a futile exercise as all member countries either developed or developing wanted to safeguard their own agendas and individual benefits. "However, there is a strong need to understand that instead of upholding individual interests and blaming one another for GHG emissions we should look for practical and collective preventive measures as climate change is a threat for the entire world," he said.
He said Pakistan was focused on its red lines like Pakistan should be included in extreme climate vulnerability definition to scoping climate finance and ensured its development pathway not be constrained, "which we achieved so far," he claimed. He explained that basic vulnerability of Pakistan was that it was in the region of glacial melting zone, which meant living in a neighbourhood of unavoidable 'vulnerability' with main issue being 'water'.