Govt taking steps for improving environment: Mushahidullah

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (APP):Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan said the government had been taking all possible steps for improving environment while undertaking sustainable economic development.
He was addressing an event on “Asia-Pacific Climate Action” during Conference of Parties 23 being held in Bonn Germany, says a press release here on Thursday.
He said, “At the country level we are making all possible steps towards climate resilient development.”
He said, “It makes me worry when I look at the situation and the changing climate of the world. Climate change is a global challenge, having no distinction or respect for boundaries or regions. This forces us to realize that emissions anywhere affect people everywhere.”
He said as an implementation partner of the Paris Agreement and having adopted sustainable development goals and our country goals, special focus was given to climate change.
He said, “coming from a country, which only contributes less than 1% of the global emissions while being one of the top ten countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, we cannot afford the luxury of just discussing this topic and therefore, have to take drastic steps towards our climate resilient infrastructure development.”
He also highlighted that the international debate on climate change and sustainable economic development as well as the frequent and devastating natural disasters, which have caused human tragedies and tremendous losses to the economy, had put environmental protection on the top of the agenda.
In Pakistan, he said the federal government had established a Ministry of Climate Change, which was instrumental in formulating National Climate Change Policy in 2012. The provinces had also enacted their own environmental protection laws in line with the Federal Environmental Protection Act, 1997 that provided for protection, conservation and rehabilitation.
The State Bank of Pakistan had introduced Green Banking thus, acknowledging the responsibility of the financial sector in supporting policy initiatives for transforming a country’s economy towards a low carbon and climate resilient economy, he added.
Mushahid said green banking was a paradigm shift from business as usual approach and had profound implications for strategic focus, financing and investment portfolio assessments.
The other speakers were Fiji Minister for Environment, Executive Director Green Climate Fund and Asian Development Bank Vice President.