MARRAKESH: Climate Change Minister Zahid Hamid on Wednesday made official statement at Conference of Parties 22 that is going on in Morocco.
“Pakistan’s contribution to global warming is minimal. We emit less than 1% of total annual global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet we are ranked amongst the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change,” said Zahid Hamid.
He also said Pakistan faces several major risks relating to climate change, including glacial melt, variable monsoons, recurrent floods, sea intrusion, higher average temperatures and higher frequency of droughts. Millions of people have been affected and colossal damage has been caused by recurring natural disasters.
“These threats pose major survival concerns for Pakistan, particularly in relation to the country’s water security, food security and energy security. They also have enormous adverse consequences for all socio-economic sectors, impeding our ability to promote sustainable growth and development and the economic prosperity of our people”, highlighted the minister.
He also informed the audience that to cope with these adverse impacts of climate change, Pakistan has developed comprehensive policies and plans that include both adaptation and mitigation measures.
“We have adopted a perspective development plan called “Vision 2025″, a national climate change policy along with a framework for its implementation, and a national disaster risk reduction policy.”
He also said, “Next week we will be introducing in parliament a historic Pakistan Climate Change Bill, which will establish a high-level, policy-making Pakistan Climate Change Council, along with the Pakistan Climate Change Authority, to prepare and supervise implementation of adaptation and mitigation projects in various sectors.”
“Pakistan has also developed a National Sustainable Development Strategy and I am proud to inform you that earlier this year Pakistan became perhaps the first country in the world whose National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution adopting the SDGs Agenda as its own national development agenda,” added Hamid.
To reduce adverse impacts of climate change and build resilience, a Green Pakistan Programme has been launched with the objective, among others, to increase afforestation across the country.
“The Government of Pakistan is fully committed to implementation of the Paris Agreement, which we have duly ratified. We have also forwarded to the UNFCCC Secretariat our INDCs, taking into account the latest situation relating to our development needs and strategies. It includes updated projections of green-house gas emissions and our national ambition to reduce these emissions, along with associated financial and technical implications,” said the minister.
He also said, “We are confident that the comprehensive approach adopted by Pakistan will help us meet our climate objectives, build required resilience and contribute to the global mitigation efforts against climate change.”
“We are confident that the comprehensive approach adopted by Pakistan will help us meet our climate objectives, build required resilience and contribute to the global mitigation efforts against climate change,” highlighted the minister.
He also announced that challenges and needs of developing countries are enormous.
“In Pakistan alone, we need up to $14 billion annually to adapt to climate change impacts. Our mitigation needs, which have been estimated in our INDCs based on various assumptions, are much higher.”
“The Paris Agreement has transformed our aspirations into reality and has provided an action plan to deal with the biggest development emergency of our times. We must therefore implement it fully and effectively. For this purpose, the availability of climate finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building in the developing world must be ensured,” said the minister.
He also said all countries need to honour their respective commitments under the Paris Agreement and to work together to operationalise its implementation.
“I am pleased to reiterate that Pakistan, on its part, is ready to contribute fully to these collective efforts.”
