PTI govt to offer jobs to 'climate change migrants' in Billion Tree Tsunami project

Lawmakers, climate experts say pandemic has hit migrant workers the hardest

ISLAMABAD: With hundreds of people forced to migrate due to climate change amidst the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, the government has said that it is trying to soften the blow by offering them jobs in the Billion Tree Tsunami project under its ‘Green Stimulus’ package.

This was disclosed by the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Climate Change Chairperson Munaza Hassan on Thursday while speaking in an online dialogue on ‘Gender and Climate Change: Challenges for Climate-Induced Migrants Amid Covid-19’. The dialogue had been organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Thursday.

Hassan, who is Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA elected on reserved seat for women, said that her party is fully cognizant of the issues faced by the people, particularly the climate change-induced migrant population amidst the pandemic.

In this regard, she pointed to the steps taken to address their issues in the Green Stimulus Package such as jobs under the Billion-Tree Tsunami project.

These jobs, she said, are open to women as well.

Hassan further pointed to the steps taken by the government to support vulnerable families during the pandemic.

On the legislative side, she said that a law on women’s right to inheritance is being created which will help empower women, especially in the rural areas. ActionAid Global Climate Lead Harjeet Singh told participants of the meeting that as many as 33.4 million new migrations across the globe were recorded in 2019 which had been induced by climate change.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2020.