Climate change agreement: PM forms committee to take input ahead of signing

UN chief invites world leaders to formally sign Paris Agreement on April 22

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has formed a committee to share the details of the Paris Climate Agreement with government stakeholders to take their input ahead of the formal signing of the agreement.

The eight-member committee, headed by Climate Change Minister Zahid Hamid, will submit its report to the premier within two weeks in the light of suggestions and recommendations of the stakeholders, sources in the climate ministry told The Express Tribune.  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited world leaders to UN Headquarters in New York on April 22 to formally sign the global agreement reached in Paris in December last year.

In his invitation letter, the UN secretary-general said that the world leaders’ participation would formally set in motion the Paris Agreement setting a goal of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius by taking measures against greenhouse gas emissions.

The agreement will become legally binding if at least 55 countries sign it.

Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal and secretaries of power, communication and climate change ministries and National Highway Authority chairman are members of the committee.

According to the sources, the committee held its first meeting at the climate change ministry two days back to go ahead with the task to engage government stakeholders to seek their suggestions and recommendations before Pakistan entered into formal agreement within its own legal systems.

According to the sources, the meeting also reviewed the pros and cons of signing the agreement and it was decided that government and private stakeholders and the political leadership will be taken into confidence before going ahead with the signing agreement.

The meeting also highlighted that the political leadership should be briefed about advantages and disadvantages of the climate agreement.

The meeting also shed light on climate issues being faced by Pakistan and the global funding it would get for adaptation and mitigation measures under the global agreement.

The meeting also discussed the impact of signing of agreement on government‘s plan of setting up coal plants for power generation.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2016.