Islamabad, Oct 3: Achieving Green Economy Goals Romina Stresses Importance of Making Cities Environmentally Sustainable. Romina Khurshid Alam, the Prime Minister’s Climate Change Coordinator, stated on Thursday that extreme weather occurrences brought on by climate change, especially heat waves and urban flooding disasters, pose a serious risk to people’s lives, livelihoods, and public infrastructure.
Building climate-resilience of the cities against adverse consequences of climate change is vital for building the urban environmentally-sustainable and resilient- living places, Alam stressed. She presented various plans to turn the capital into a sustainable environmental model while meeting with a group headed by Muhammad Ali Randhawa, Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
The PM’s climate aide, who presided over the meeting, emphasized that developing ideas and Green Economy Goals putting policies into place for climate-resilient urbanization can help us address pressing environmental and climate change-related issues while also advancing long-term sustainability, equity, and quality of life in urban areas.
She went on to say that developing a multidimensional strategy that incorporates community involvement, infrastructure development, planning, and the execution of pertinent policies is necessary to make cities climate-resilient. The environment advisor to the prime minister emphasized that many of the nation’s cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar, are seriously at risk from climate change.
The need for climate adaptation measures is greater than ever due to rising sea levels, unpredictable rainfall, and rising temperatures. Romina Khurshid Alam addressed the attendees of the meeting, saying, “The ministry of climate change and the environment is taking all-out measures and implementing policies and frameworks to create sustainable urban environments for making cities environmentally-sustainable and climate-resilient so that they can withstand the impacts of climate change while improving the quality of life for residents.”
Ms. Alam underlined at the conference that Islamabad will increase the amount of greenery and blooming plants in the city, setting itself up as an example for other cities to follow in accomplishing sustainability objectives. She also emphasized the significance of tackling health issues related to climate change, supporting the removal of paper mulberry trees to lessen the impact of pollen allergies on locals.
Redesigning parks across Islamabad is a suggestion made by Romina Khurshid to improve the city’s green areas and recreational opportunities for its citizens. It ought to be in line with more general environmental objectives, such as planting more trees and encouraging biodiversity in urban areas.
Khurshid Alam was informed by the CDA chairman on a range of projects that aim to make Islamabad a smart city, including those that deal with water management, renewable energy, transportation, zero waste, and environmental health. Interestingly, the Climate Ministry and CDA agreed to work together on 700-acre afforestation projects close to Baharakahu at the end of the conference.
The chairman also told the meeting that the CDA is creating a vast network of bicycle routes to encourage environmentally friendly transportation choices all around the city. In her closing remarks, Romina Khurshid stated that although urban areas contribute significantly more to greenhouse gas emissions than rural areas do, creating climate-resilient cities is essential for national, regional, and international sustainability initiatives as well as for lowering the overall effects of climate change on infrastructure and people.
