PR No. 63 NATIONALLY-COORDINATED CLIMATE ACTION VITAL TO TACKLING ADVERSE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS, MALIK AMIN ASLAM Islamabad: October 08, 2019

Prime Minister’s Advisor on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said that Pakistan is beset with the worst socio-economic, sustainability and air pollution-related challenges due to global warming-caused climate crisis and soaring global environmental degradation. “However, tackling these challenges, which are badly affecting the country’s socio-economic sectors, lives and livelihoods of the people, particularly farmers, the marginalised and poor communities , requires urgent and nationally-coordinated response,” he said during his keynote address to the participants of the ‘Rising Pakistan’ event the EcoPartnerships - Climate Initiatives Platform, an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The core of the EcoPartnerships Programme is the peer-to-peer collaboration that occurs at the partner level. These partners pursue innovative pilot projects that are recognized and facilitated by a Secretariat in each country. Amin Aslam warned, “Failing to do so would only exacerbate impacts of climate change by causing economic slowdown, increasing poverty, hunger, mal-nutrion levels and disease burden.” He said further that due to global warming the country is facing a growing water crisis as rainfall patterns are rapidly shifting and showing declining trends, which could increase drought frequency and intensity as well as speed up ground water depletion. Besides, the country’s glaciers are melting at a much faster rate, causing rise in frequency and intensity of the riverine floods, particularly in upper parts of the country. As a result, lives livelihoods of farming in northern and southern regions and mountain communities in northwest regions are stake, the prime minister’s advisor told the event participants. Explaining efforts at the national level needed to cope with these climate change and environmental risks, the prime minister’s advisor Malik Amin Aslam said that increasing forest cover, strengthening river banks, boosting groundwater recharge, rationalizing water usage in all socio-economic sectors, particularly agriculture, increasing power generation from renewable energy sources, managing solid waste on scientific and environment-friendly way, improving cropping patterns, rainwater harvesting and adoption of efficient irrigation technologies for water conservation and wastewater recycling are important measures that can help country overcome the risks. “I hope that the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, Clean Green Pakistan Initiative, Recharge Pakistan programme, Clean Green Pakistan Index for Cities and other more such policy measures, being taken under the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s environmental conservation vision, for reducing plastic bags at all levels, promoting climate-resilient urbanisation through resilient construction codes and introduction of electric vehicles will help overcome environmental, climate change and air pollution problems to a great extent in the coming years,” Amin Aslam told the participants during his address. He said that 40 percent of the country’s total national carbon emissions, which are less than one percent of the total global carbon emissions, come from transport sector. However, introducing energy-efficient electric vehicles in the country aims to tackle growing air pollution problems in the country.

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