Collaboration urged to tackle climate crisis

PESHAWAR:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Forests and Wildlife, Fazal Hakeem Khan Yousafzai has said that climate change has emerged a global challenge while in this regard, strengthening the environment department and improving the system are among the top priorities of the present PTI-led provincial government.

He was addressing the introductory meeting of the Environment Department at his office, Civil Secretariat, Peshawar. On this occasion, Provincial Environment Secretary Syed Nazar Hussain Shah and other section heads of the department gave detailed briefings to the provincial minister regarding their performance.

In the meeting, details were also given to the provincial minister about the ongoing and new annual development program and AIP schemes of the department.

There was also a threadbare discussion on the development projects of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s settled and merged districts.

The minister was also apprised of the progress on other important issues of the department including fisheries, new forests, watershed, guzara forest, K-P Forest Policy 1999, K-P Forest Ordinance 2002 and K-P Forest Carbon Trading.

Fazal Hakeem Khan underlined the need that we all have to work together as a team to meet the challenges on climate change and achieve the set national goals in this regard. The system, he said, has to be improved by making it easier for the people and in view of the importance of forests in our national economy, concrete steps have to be taken to protect and promote them.

He acknowledged the fact that forests envisaged paramount importance in the stability of the economy, hence it is imperative to control environmental hazards.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2024.