ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has become one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, facing climate challenges which can be tackled through joint efforts. This was expressed by experts and speakers of seminar “Framing Pakistan’s Agenda: Pre-COP23 Consultative Dialogue”, held in the collaboration of Climate Change Ministry and Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC) on Wednesday in Islamabad.
The event brought together representatives from the Climate Change Ministry and related government departments as well as practitioners and experts in the field of climate change from the civil society, academia, and media, in order to frame Pakistan’s agenda for the UNFCCC’s annual international Climate Change Conference (COP23) which is going to be held later this year at Bonn, Germany from 6 to 17 November.
This was the second of a series of six consultative dialogues between government and civil society, each addressing a specific climate change-related theme.
In her welcoming remarks, Ms Aisha Khan, Chief Executive of CSCCC, thanked all the participants for attending the event, and highlighted the impact of loss and damage at the local level and stressed on the need to develop a national consensus in the future forward.
Speaking at the event, the keynote speaker, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat, said that Pakistan is vulnerable to natural and human-induced hazards, including hydro-meteorological disasters in the country, caused by climate change, which has not only become more unpredictable but their frequency has increased manifold. He expressed the NDMA’s resolve to overcome challenges and strengthen the national adaptive capacity by working at subnational and national levels to build resilience using organised and systematic approaches to protect vulnerable communities and ecosystems.
In his closing remarks, Climate Change Ministry Secretary Abu Ahmad Akif, said that he is resolved to work with and take into account the inputs of civil society and other experts present in the meeting while formulating the future policy and strategy to address climate change and frame Pakistan’s agenda at the COP23.
