Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said on Thursday that Pakistan required $7 to $14 billion per annum to fight adverse impacts of the global warming. Addressing a press conference here, he highlighted the country's vulnerability to the climate change effectively at 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24), which is a global agreement to deal with climate change under umbrella of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It was held between 2nd and 15th December, 2018 in Katowice, Poland.
The adviser outlined the range of actions that the new government is taking steps to address the adverse impacts of climate change. He highlighted the extreme impacts that climate change is posing to Pakistan, including recurring super floods, unpredicted droughts, chaotic heat waves, melting glaciers and resultant outbursts floods as well as rapidly shifting weather patterns.
Pakistan has itself chosen to responsibly support the global efforts to deal with climate change and mention about the high political will to deal with the impacts of climate change on the country.
He mentioned about the several initiatives that Pakistan has undertaken to play its effective role to reduce carbon emission and manage the climatically induced disasters.
Aslam mentioned about the success of the "Billion Tree Tsunami" initiative and shared the launching of the nationwide "10 Billion Tree Tsunami" project. He reiterated the government's intention to capitalize on the indigenous resources of wind, solar and hydro energy potential as well as the utilization of the nuclear energy. "More than 365 small run-of-the- river hydro projects have been set up in the north providing access to off-grid and affordable zero carbon electricity".
He also highlighted that Pakistan has finalized a multi-million dollar "zero emission" bus metro system for the city of Karachi operating on cattle waste generated biogas, with the catalytic financing from the Green Climate Fund. He also shared the details of "Clean and Green Pakistan" and "Recharge Pakistan" initiatives, which also have strong components to address the impacts of climate change.
Due to very strong diplomatic efforts, the governments have adopted a robust set of guidelines for implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement at the COP24 in Poland. The implementation of the agreement will benefit people, especially the most vulnerable. The agreed 'Katowice Climate Package' is designed to operationalize the climate change regime contained in the Paris Agreement.
The conference was aimed on agreement on rules to implement the Paris Agreement, which was adopted by global community in December 2015 under UNFCCC. About 20 thousand delegates from 190 countries took part in the event, including; World's leaders and politicians, representatives of non-governmental organizations, scientific community and business sector.
The adviser said that as a result of its effective participation and high level political leadership, Pakistan has been elected as the "Vice President/ Rapporteur" of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is second highest position at the UN Climate Convention.
The other bodies in which Pakistan secured seats include the Executive Board of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Standing Committee on Finance (SCF), Adaptation Committee (AC), Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), and Technology Executive Committee (TEC).
As the Vice-President of COP and a member of these key bodies under the UN umbrella, Pakistan will continue to remain actively engaged with the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, especially on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. We would also, in collaboration with member states, endeavor to make global response to climate change stronger, equitable and more responsive to the collective climate related challenges.
Besides negotiations, Aslam also held meetings with profiled experts and institutional representatives including; Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, dignitaries from Government of United Arab Emirates, Asian Development Bank, IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Wide Fund, NDC Partnership and many others to enhance cooperation and decide on join actions to deal with climate change and issues related to environmental improvement.