Climate change: Ministry forms advisory body

Consultative Group on Climate Change will advise the ministry on relevant issues.

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Climate Change (MOCC) has formed a consultative body, which will support the ministry in taking better and informed decisions in various areas of climate change.

The think-tank, called Consultative Group on Climate Change, has been formed on the directives of the Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Mushahidullah Khan, according a press release issued here on Tuesday.

The director-general of the ministry will lead the consultative group as secretary (ex-officio).

The 27-member think-tank comprises, among others, members of national and provincial assemblies, senators, renowned scientists, researchers, climatologists, glaciologists, weather scientists, agriculturists, and academics from government and non-governmental sectors.

Senator Dr Ayesha Raza Frooq, MNA Maryam Aurengzeb, MNA Romina Khurshid Alam, MPA Punjab Assembly Syed Uzma Qadri, MPA Balochistan Assembly Raheela Durani, Pakistan Meteorological Department Director-General Dr Ghulam Rasul, Special Advisor to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organisation’s Secretary-General Dr Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry, Global Change Impact Study Centre (GCISC) former head Dr Arshad M Khan, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resource former chairperson Dr Muhammad Akram Kahlown, Dr Ghulam Raza Bhatti of the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Business Council (Dubai) Chairperson Khawaja Tanvir, among others, have been selected as members of the think tank.

The federal minister said that the consultative group would assist the ministry in taking better, viable and knowledgeable decisions in the fields of climate change, forestry, international climate change negotiations and boosting awareness about climate risks at all levels.

He said that the think tank would help suggest possible remedies to strengthen country’s resilience against climate change-induced disasters, particularly floods, heat waves, shifting rainfall patterns, erratic summer and winter seasons.

The federal minister also said that the consultative group would also advise policymakers to help develop cost-effective policy solutions to cope with natural disasters, caused by changing weather patterns.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2015.