ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: The Prime Minister rejected a summary by the Ministry of Climate Change to attend the biggest environmental gathering in the world, due to shortage of funds.

Officials in the Ministry of Climate Change confirmed that the eight to ten member delegation, made up of government officials, was not allowed to present Pakistan’s case on environmental issues, including floods, at the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference that was being held in Doha, Qatar.

The officials described it as ‘sad’ on missing out on an annual mandatory programme to present Pakistan’s case, especially when the country was one of the most vulnerable spots, in regard to climate change. This would be the first time that Pakistan would miss the event, since 1992.

“Government officials will miss the event because of shortage of funds,” said Additional Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change Mohammad Ejaz, who explained that the delegation usually made up of government officials, technical experts on environment and journalists were now depending on private funding to attend the event, starting November 26, till December 7, 2012.

However, according to sources, in the ministry there had been objections in the past over irrelevant personnel attending the conference. There have also been objections to officials not bringing back much in the past from these conferences.

“This is a highly complex event and not a leisure trip that only some concerned experts can contribute to,” said a senior official in the Ministry of Climate Change.

Senior economist at Asianics Agro-Development International, Dr Pervaiz Amir, was surprised that the government is missing the event.

“South Asia is one of the most affected regions from impacts of climate change. Although countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan contribute the least to world emissions, yet remain vulnerable to impacts of climate change,” said Dr Pervaiz Amir.

He explained how at the previous conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, three Ministers, including the Foreign Minister, was also part of the contingent to present Pakistan.

“This is a show of the Ministry of Climate Change and the Planning Division. It is imperative that the government nominated the relevant technical people for the conference,” Dr Amir emphasised.

Advisor on Meteorological and Climate Affairs and architect of the first national policy on Climate Change in Pakistan, Dr Qamar Zaman Chaudhry said that it would be a pity if the new Ministry of Climate Change missed the global event.

“Pakistan has negotiated its cases well in the past. In the last conference the emphasis was on funding less developed island countries, only to meet environmental challenges. Pakistan convinced the world community to include the words ‘and other vulnerable nations’, which was a huge achievement because then Pakistan also had access to world funding to meet challenges of climate change,” said Dr Qamar.

The frequency and intensity of floods and droughts in certain parts of the country would increase in the future and Pakistan should be prepared to adopt new methods to combat climate change and take mitigation measures, experts said. — Jamal Shahid