Govt to ‘ring-fence’ cities to combat climate change: PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan has emphasised that preventing the expansion of cities has become inevitable to protect them from impacts of climate change.

“Our cities are under stress and they are expanding and green cover is fading,” he said while addressing an MoU signing ceremony of the Ministry of Climate Change and World Bank in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The premier said considering the pace at which urban areas are expanding, it would not possible for the authorities to keep the environment clean and protect rivers and canals from getting polluted.

PM Imran also cited an example of Lahore, saying that pollution levels in the city has increased significantly due to the massive deforestation and "now the poor air quality is affecting its residents".

The prime minister said his government is working on a master plan to ring-fence the cities so that they would not expand beyond certain limits.

He added that Pakistan is in the top 10 countries which are most vulnerable to climate change, blaming the developed countries for moving too late to tackle the challenge of global warming.

Also read: Pakistan’s climate change actions can serve as model

“We are not responsible for it [climate change] the countries which emit the carbons most did not acknowledge the challenge of climate change and took steps very late,” he added.

PM Imran said his government’s “Ten Billion Tree Tsunami” project was essential to increase green cover in the country and protect the country from the impacts of global warming.

He added that the cadastral mapping being carried by the government exposed that many forests have been encroached in the country and they exist only on papers.

PM Imran said the authorities will also monitor the country’s national parks through drone and satellite images to prevent their encroachment.