Joining hands: Panel finalises charter on climate change

‘Periodic assessment report on climate change’ will cover impact on all sectors

ISLAMABAD: A panel, constituted by leading policy institutes and civil society, has finalised its charter, says a press release.

The Pakistan Panel on Climate Change (PPCC) finalised the charter after the third round of meetings of its ad-hoc committee here the other day.

According to its charter, the panel will focus on the national climate change by taking into account the regional factors. Its flagship publication will be ‘Periodic assessment report on the state of climate change in Pakistan,’ which will cover the impact of climate change on economies of all sectors.

Sustainable Development Centre and Institute of Policy Studies have modelled the panel after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Its members represent various stakeholders such as civil society organisations, academics, and the government. Muhammad Irfan Khan, chairman of the ad-hoc committee, said that the PPCC was the first national level arrangement introduced in the world.

The charter also lays out the structure of the PPCC, which includes four working groups, executive committees and a general assembly. The panel will be headed by a chairperson.

Each working group has its own mandate, such as governance and advocacy, climate change vulnerability and climate change mitigation.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2016.