ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The federal government has decided to establish a Climate Change Authority to effectively tackle challenges in the wake of global warming and environmental degradation in the country.
An official of the ministry told the state-run news agency that the government was pursuing a multi-pronged strategy including short, medium and long-term measures to meet the challenges of climate change.
The Ministry of Climate Change has completed the draft of “Pakistan Climate Change Act 2016”, which will be presented in the Parliament for approval soon. The authority would be headed by the Prime Minister, the official said.
He said the aim behind the move is to control the damage of natural disasters and hold awareness campaigns, conduct researches and sign agreements with international organizations in this regard.
Representative of all provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir, FATA, National Disaster Management Authority and Federal Secretary for Climate Change will be part of this authority.
He said that more than 35 government officers, experts and representatives of civil society will be the part of the authority.
To a question he said, “We have prepared a national forest policy in coordination with the provinces in order to enhance the forest cover in different parts of the country.”
To another question, he said the ‘National Climate Change Policy’ was approved by the Federal Cabinet in September 2012 and officially launched on March 26.
The National Climate Change Policy provides a framework for addressing the issues that Pakistan faces or would face in future due to the changing climate pattern.
He said the policy aims to ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in economically and socially vulnerable sectors of the economy and to steer Pakistan towards climate resilient development.
