Mitigating damage: Draft for climate change policy approved

National Plan of Action has been designed to implement it.

ISLAMABAD:

The cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft of National Policy on Climate Change, which is a policy framework aimed at mitigating damage amid rapid climatic changes.

Minister for Climate Change Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan said the new climate change policy was made in consultation with all the provinces and a National Plan of Action has also been designed to implement the policy, while addressing a press conference after the draft was approved.

Dr Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, adviser to the government on environment, the key author of the policy stated, “Pakistan’s contribution to global warming is negligible but it is one of the top ten most affected countries.” He attribued the recent torrential monsoon rains to climatic changes, which resulted in breaking the 134 years record.

Objectives of the new policy are to pursue sustainable economic growth by appropriately addressing the challenges of climate change; to integrate climate change policy with other interllated national policies. to focus on pro-poor gender sensitive adaptation while also promoting mitigation to the extent possible in a cost effective manner; to ensure water, food and energy security of the country in the face of challenge posed by climate change and to minimize the risks arising from the expected increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like floods and droughts.

Facilitating an effective use of the opportunities, particularly financial, available both nationally and internationally, fostering the development of appropriate economic incentives to encourage public and private sector investment in adaptation measures and promoting conservation of natural resources and long term sustainability also figure on the list.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2012.