24th CHOGM: Pakistan vulnerable to climate change, says PM

Says the country has made polio eradication a national cause

VALLETTA:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said climate change has emerged as a major threat to lives across the world and that Pakistan is highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change like glacial melts, recurrent floods, and sea-level rise.     

Addressing a special session of the 24th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the prime minister said Pakistan – being one of the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases with only 0.8 per cent of global emissions – is making contribution towards positive development on climate change.

“Pakistan has adopted a national climate change policy and has prepared framework for implementation besides integrating climate friendly policies in national economic and development planning,” he said.

Nawaz expressed hope that the forthcoming Paris Conference would provide an opportunity to conclude a comprehensive climate change agreement and would take into account means of implementation on finance, technology and capacity building.



The prime minister’s address was highly applauded at the special session which was attended by French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prince of Wales Charles and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon among other representatives from 53 countries.

The session on climate change took place ahead of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) to be held in Paris early next week. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will also attend the conference.

Earlier, the premier also attended the executive session of the 24th CHOGM to review the agenda of global development and challenges.

The closed-door session held at Malta’s Golden Sands resort was attended by heads of government and representatives, who discussed and approved the agenda earlier provisionally adopted at the Senior Officials Meeting in London on October 21, 2015.

Pakistan committed to polio eradication

In his address at a session `Polio Moment’ organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat as a special event on the CHOGM sidelines, the prime minister said Pakistan is committed to making the world polio free and has made eradication of this disease a national cause.

“We will not rest till polio is eradicated from Pakistan, as the whole nation stands united for this cause,” he said, adding that Pakistan had taken a series of actions to save future generations from the crippling disease. “I am personally leading the National Task Force on Polio Eradication,” he said.

The premier mentioned that the country’s campaign included a strategy to have well-informed parents, dedicated network of frontline health workers, informed and supportive medical fraternity, civil society, religious leadership and media.

“There exists enabling security architecture in Pakistan which supports access to practically all children across the country and ensure safety for frontline workers,” Nawaz said. The government’s priority is to reach out to each and every child so that no child remains unvaccinated during the nationwide polio drive, he added.

He commended the Commonwealth Secretariat for organising the event and said Pakistan looked forward to the support of Commonwealth in its efforts to eradicate the disease.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Youth Council also conferred Award of Appreciation on the prime minister in recognition to his contribution for development of young people of Pakistan and across the Commonwealth. 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2015.