Islamabad, Oct 18: Romina Khurshid Calls on Climate Authority to Collaborate with Stakeholders for Unified Climate Action Strategy. Romina Alam, the Prime Minister’s Climate Change Coordinator, has called on the Pakistan Climate Change Authority (PCCA) to fulfill its mandate to intensify coordination and cooperation between federal and provincial government agencies in order to meet the goals of low-carbon development, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience.
“Driving Pakistan’s long-term sustainability and climate resilience actions is inevitable for ensuring that the country is better prepared to cope with the present and the future exacerbating impacts of climate change in various socio-economic sectors, particularly agriculture, water, and energy,” stated the PM’s climate aide, who presided over the second PCCA meeting held here.
Romina Khurshid Alam went on to say that the Authority, which was created at the federal level, has been given the vital duty of accomplishing the environmental sustainability, low-carbon development, and climate resilience goals by leading the nation’s response to the escalating threats posed by climate change, coordinating efforts across sectors, and putting policies in place that support climate resilience through a variety of evidence-based policy measures.
She pointed out that the inability of federal and provincial government agencies to work together and implement both short-term and long-term national climate change policy measures to deal with the negative effects of climate change has only made a number of socioeconomic sectors, infrastructure, and people’s lives and livelihoods more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
In order to protect the nation and its citizens from escalating climate risks, specifically floods, heat waves, sea level rise, changing rainfall patterns, and accelerated glacial melting, she urged the PCCA to step up its efforts to unite all federal, provincial, and national and international non-governmental organizations through improved collaboration and cooperation for the implementation of the national climate change policy.
Additionally, the PM’s climate aide urged the authority to create national climate adaptation programs to lessen the effects of droughts, floods, and rising temperatures, as well as mitigation programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy projects, sustainable practices, and actionable low-carbon development plans.
Additionally, Romina Khurshid Alam emphasized the historically important importance of educating the people about the consequences of climate change and involving communities in climate action.
Educating the public about the effects of climate change and potential adaptation and mitigation strategies is essential to giving them the tools they need to tackle climate-related issues. Additionally, educational institutions and the media play a crucial role in raising public awareness, Romina said.Aisha Humera Chaudhry, Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination, emphasized the importance of a national strategy to address climate issues in her welcome remarks.
According to her, recent severe floods, heat waves, and glacial melting in Pakistan’s north brought on by rising temperatures show that the nation is becoming more and more sensitive to the socioeconomic effects of climate change, making it one of the most vulnerable in the world.
According to the secretary of the ministry of climate change and environmental coordination, “Pakistan’s socio-economic stability and environmental sustainability are under mounting threat with a rising frequency of extreme weather events, particularly devastating floods, extended droughts, paced glacial melt, and rising temperatures.”
Pakistan is regularly ranked in the top ten nations most impacted by climate-related disasters by the Global Climate Risk Index. At the national and international levels, a strong, coordinated response is needed to this pressing issue.
Due to its agrarian economy, the nation’s farming industry is extremely vulnerable to abrupt changes in weather patterns. Crop yields are being destroyed by unpredictable shifts in rainfall patterns and the severity of droughts and floods, endangering the livelihoods of millions of farmers and making the nation’s rural poverty and food insecurity worse.
The PCCA members previously examined the status of policy mitigation and adaptation efforts and took stock of the state of the national climate change policy measures’ implementation.In order to ensure a cohesive strategy to addressing the nation’s climate concerns, they also discussed potential ways to improve coordination and cooperation across various federal and provincial government organizations, institutions, and sectors.
The need to accelerate coordination and cooperation for improved national climate change policy implementation and to align other climate change adaptation and mitigation measures suggested in other federal and provincial government organizations’ plans, strategies, and policies for a unified coping response to the growing impacts of climate change were also agreed upon by meeting participants.
Romina Alam, the PM’s climate aide, promised PCCA her full support in order to achieve environmental sustainability and climate resilience targets while responding to climate hazards in a coordinated and efficient manner.
