May 08 , 2015
News
Global climate conference : Mushahidullah for presenting Pak’s strong climate vulnerability case
* Minister says country is ranked third among top 10 most climate vulnerable countries * Pakistan will urge rich polluting nations to compensate for damages they have caused to global climateISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan has directed senior officials of the ministry for close collaboration with the provincial governments and all other relevant stakeholders to prepare a strong climate vulnerability case of Pakistan to be presented at the United Nations’ global climate conference.
“A high-profile delegation should be constituted that will attend the global climate conference in Paris, France, to present Pakistan’s climate vulnerability case. The delegation should comprise climate experts, policymakers, planners, climate scientists and researchers so that Pakistan should also prove to be an important stakeholder in the conference,” Mushahidullah said while chairing a high-level inter-ministerial meeting here on Thursday on “Preparations for 21st Conference of Parties (COP0-21) to the United National Conventions Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC)”.
The federal minister urged the representatives of different ministries and government departments to explore potential funding channels to meet respective boarding and lodging expenses in Paris for participation in the global climate conference as a part of the national delegation. The minister himself will head the delegation to the climate conference.
He said though Pakistan is not a major contributor in global carbon emissions, the country was ranked third among top 10 most climate vulnerable countries and worst affected by the negative impacts of climate change. “However, Pakistan must attend the global climate conference with a strong message for the rich polluting nations to compensate for the damages they have caused to the climate change and environment by continuing on the trajectory of carbon emissions,” he told the participants
Mushahidullah also cautioned the participants that it should be ensured that the country’s delegation in unison with other developing countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Thailand opposes everything in the global climate agreement which are detrimental to their interests. “We will also oppose any agreement in the conference tying our hands on specific climate change issues for which we are not responsible. The rich polluting nations would be asked to compensate for the damages they have caused,” he said.
Under the new global climate agreement, the 198 participating countries are expected to agree a target of capping carbon emissions to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial level. The conference will be held in December this year and will be attended by delegations from over 198 countries. Political and climate leaders, scientists, researchers, policymakers from both rich and poor countries are expected to reach a global climate agreement that will come in force after 2020 by replacing the Kyoto Protocol.
Representatives of relevant federal and all provincial governments’ departments and of non-governmental organisations and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) along with senior officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, provincial environmental protection agencies and Climate Change Ministry also participated in the meeting.
The provincial governments’ representatives appreciated the federal climate change minister for insisting upon provincial governments to nominate officials to be part of Pakistan’s national delegation to the global climate conference. This will help highlight climate vulnerabilities of all provinces, particularly Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan at the global level and boost Pakistan’s overall climate vulnerability case.
Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change Arif Ahmed Khan said that Pakistan is closely engaged in the negotiation process on the upcoming global climate agreement to be reached at the UN-led climate conference in Paris. “However, overall national position is guided by our stance that emission reduction actions by Pakistan remain voluntary and enabled by aid and capacity-building in financial and technological spheres, while our socio-economic development remains unhampered, he said. He added that legally binding outcome is to be guided by the principles of the UNFCCC particularly that of ‘commons but differentiated responsibilities’. “The 2015 global climate agreement should not be limited to mitigation only. It must holistically include adaptation and means of implementation (finance, technology development and transfer as well as capacity-building),” Arif told the meeting.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk