Daily Times

Advisor to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Sunday said that for timely completion of 10 billion trees project, services of locals from every district would be hired to establish new nurseries across the country.

Addressing a meeting on climate change, Aslam said funding for the project has been started to all the provinces including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan according to the PC-1 and they have also been directed to complete the project in its given time frame.

He said if all the provinces form a task force on the pattern of KP forest department involving women and local people to create nurseries, it will help not only in early completion of the project but will also provide employment opportunities to the locals.

Secretary forest Hassan Nasir Jami said that a Federal task force has been formed that will provide assistance to all the provinces and will also monitor the technical modalities of the project.

A monthly meeting will also be held by the ministry to overview the performance of the project while the provinces assured that all the plantations targets will be achieved by the end of this year.

The meeting was attended by the forests secretaries from all the provinces including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir where a detailed briefing was given on different kinds of saplings and establishment of new nurseries.

Separately, Malik Amin Aslam said that pedaling climate diplomacy for climate action is a vital tool to tackling common global climate risk affecting the rich and poor countries.

“The world leaders must come forward and join hand in hand to help each other to boost their resilience against unfolding climate change-caused disasters, particularly floods, forest fires and warming-triggered diseases such as dengue,” he during his keynote address to the participants of European Union’s Climate Diplomacy Day event held at the Pakistan National Council of Arts on Sunday.

The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Climate Change, World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan and European Union’s Mission to Pakistan.

Malik Amin Aslam highlighted that Pakistan annually faces economic damages between USD 6-14 billion solely due to deteriorating climate changes-triggered disasters, particularly floods, sea intrusion, declining rainfall patterns and human diseases. Melting of glaciers in the northern regions of Pakistan could disturb the biodiversity of the entire country and adversely influence climate conditions, he added.

Androulla Kaminara, ambassador-designate of the European Union (EU) to Pakistan, said the EU continues reaffirm its steadfast commitment to the Paris Agreement as the essential multilateral framework governing global action to dealing with climate change. “While the EU is on track to exceed its 2020 target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it is determined to help raise global ambition and lead the way on accelerated climate action on all fronts,” she told the participants. She emphasised that the youth climate movement is a sign of the growing awareness in our societies that climate change is a reality already that requires action today.

Rab Nawaz, Senior Director Programmes, WWF-Pakistan said that climate change is a bitter reality that poses a greater threat to our present and future generations.

Pakistan is at risk of climate related natural hazards as witnessed by widespread rains, super floods, frequent heatwaves and temperature rise and incidences of coastal flooding and sea intrusion.

For the fourth year, the European Union Delegation to Pakistan and WWF-Pakistan jointly commemorated Climate Diplomacy Day in Islamabad on Sunday to highlight the adverse impacts of climate change and seek positive actions. The event kicked off with the participants cycling from the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on a designated route as a symbolic gesture to raise awareness to curtail the growth of greenhouse emissions by promoting eco-friendly modes of transportation. The event then moved on to a documentary screening – Our Planet, Our Business – which shed light on the role of businesses in building a sustainable future.

To discuss the impacts of climate change and bring forth practical solutions, a speech competition was held on the theme ‘Youth for Climate Action’ amongst students. A total of 30 youngsters from 10 private and government colleges and universities, in the 14 to 22 years age group, participated in the competition.

The best young speaker received a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and an acknowledgement certificate by the chief guest. At conclusion of the event, all participants signed a pledge wall and showed their concerns about the threats of climate change.