In his remarks at the UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September in New York, Prime Minister Imran Khan urged for ‘bold leadership’ to fight climate change and its pervasive impacts. Describing Climate change as one of the defining issues of our time, the Prime Minister called for partnerships as no country could address this challenge alone. Recalling Pakistan’s miniscule share in global Green House Gasses (GHG) (less than 1%), but the disproportionate negative impacts of changing climate, the Prime Minister highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of the climate change. In this regard, the Prime Minister drew attention to the ‘Billion Tree Tsunami’ project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which won the distinction of being the first entity to meet and surpass pledges under the global “Bonn Challenge”. The Prime Minister referred to Pakistan’s ‘Eco-System Restoration Initiative’ (ESRI), built upon successes of the ‘Billion Tree’ project. As part of this umbrella initiative, the government of Pakistan planned to plant 10 billion trees in Pakistan in the next four years and usher a green revolution in the country through wide ranging eco-system related actions. The Prime Minister shared his three-point visionary agenda with the world leaders, encompassing implementation of global commitments; mobilizing finance; and facilitating access to and sharing of technology. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had convened this Summit aimed at re-energizing political commitments by world leaders and to encourage raising ambition by countries, including through social and political drivers to overcome the challenges of climate change. *-*-*-*
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