ISLAMABAD: A three-member delegation of parliamentarians from Pakistan has reached Belgium to participate in the 10th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP) being held in Brussels from September 27 to 28.
The delegation, which comprises of Senators Najma Hameed, Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen and Faisal Javed would attend the plenary session of the meeting on September 27 besides participating in discussion panels of three thematic sessions, which pertained to the environment and climate change, a message received here from Brussels on Wednesday said.
The first panel would discuss the impact of climate change and environment on the economy. The second panel would look into the impact on migration; whereas the third panel would deliberate on the impact on climate change and environment on the security.
The delegation would also visit House of European History, besides an interaction session with Pakistani community and media based in Belgium.
The ASEP meeting was highly significant for Pakistan in the context of environmental challenges being faced by the country as it ranked 7th on Climate Change Vulnerability Index in terms of most adversely affected countries by climate change, according to latest Global Climate Risks Index released by German-watch a German think-tank advocating for the prevention of dangers of climate change.
Pakistan ’s high vulnerability was indicated by the data collected over past 20 years with a death toll of over 500 lives per year i.e. 10,462 lives lost in 20 years and economic losses worth $3.8 billion – equivalent to 0.605 per cent of the GDP in the 20 year period.
During this time, Pakistan had suffered from 141 extreme weather events, cyclones, storms, floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and heat-waves, etc.
Senator Faisal Javed was member of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change whereas Senator Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen was member of the Standing Committee on water scarcity.
The present government had brought the issues of climate change and water scarcity into the limelight and had initiated actions to mitigate the impact of climate change on the war footings.
The plantation drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last five years under the PTI government had borne fruits as one billion trees were planted by 2017 and had been reported as a successful example by the international media.
