ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Climate Change, Zahid Hamid, informed the Senate, on Thursday, about the Climate Change Authority, which was being set up to effectively face challenges in the wake of global warming and environmental degradation.
Replying to various questions during the question hour, the minister has said that the government was pursuing a multi-pronged strategy including short, medium and long-term measures to meet the challenge of climate change. “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,” the minister added.
Hamid postulated that the government has also launched Green Pakistan Project to enhance the forestation, also adding that the government had approved an extension in the period of observance of merit, regional and provincial quota for a further period of 20 years from the date of its expiry through a constitutional amendment. He also believed that the bill is in the process of enactment by the Parliament.
In his reply to another question, the minister said that the possible environmental impacts of coal-fired plants had been identified in their respective Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports, which the proponents of these plants have to submit to their respective Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs). He said that the environmental approval to establish coal-fired power plants was a mandatory requirement under the Federal and Provincial Environmental Acts. The information pertaining to environmental approval of various coal-fired plants was being collected from Provincial EPAs and would soon be provided. He also remarked that Pakistan has signed/notified Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). Hamid answered a question with regard to the “National Climate Change Policy” by saying that the policy had long been approved by the Federal Cabinet since September 2012 and was now 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. He said that the policy aims to ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in economically and socially vulnerable sectors of the economy, in addition to steering Pakistan towards climate resilient development. He also noted that all power projects being set up as a part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be based on latest technology, which would help ease energy crisis in the country.
