ISLAMABAD: The world needs to get off the warpath with nature which would only exacerbate disasters.

This was stated by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam while addressing the virtual US-led leaders summit on Climate on Thursday.

While the global warming-hit world is fast heating up, he called upon the global community to ‘do more’ on the climate action to protect the world community from the unfolding impacts of climate change.

“The world has to do more, and fast-track efforts to confront the climate change,” the prime minister’s aide stressed.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris inaugurated the event in Washington.

The United States last week invited Mr Aslam to be a distinguished speaker at the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate being hosted by the US President Joe Biden.

Says warpath with nature will only exacerbate disasters

The US president had invited 41 world leaders including Pakistan, India, China and Bangladesh to the summit.

Addressing the Leaders Summit Malik Amin Aslam said the earth’s temperature continued to rise, with 2020 being one of the three warmest years on record, with extreme weather events combined with the Covid-19 pandemic, impacted millions in many ways.

He appreciated the US government for convening the Climate Summit at a time when the world was passing through a critical time in the climate negotiation processes to deal with the climate emergency.

The PM’s aide Malik Amin Aslam highlighted that Pakistan was striving to be a part of the solution, through nature-based initiatives, and was committed to not add to the problem of climate change.

“Given the backdrop, Prime Minister Imran Khan is leading Pakistan away from a coal future towards a clean energy future. We need access to the best available technologies and associated finance,” he said.

He suggested three types of climate finance to be delivered that included funding of $100 billion per year, adaptation finance for impacted countries like Pakistan and transition finance for helping countries shift to clean energy.

Highlighting the country’s vulnerability case, he told the participants from 41 countries that Pakistan accounted for less than one percent of the total heat-trapping global carbon emissions, yet it was ranked amongst the most climate-vulnerable countries.

Elaborating about adverse impacts on Pakistan, Malik Amin Aslam said the glaciers in the country’s north were melting fast and arid regions heating up fast becoming uninhabitable rise in sea levels was claiming coastal areas in the country’s south.

The PM’s aide told the US-led world climate summit that Pakistan’s huge population of 220 million was at risk of myriad effects of the climate crisis.

The government was implementing the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (TBTTP) after successfully planting a billion trees under the Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (BTTP) launched in 2014.

“It is also the only country in the world with an expanding mangroves forest cover,” he highlighted.

The PM’s aide said further that another ambitious Protected Areas Initiative (PAI) was launched last year aimed at conserving and promotion of nature-based solutions and creation of additional 5,000 green jobs for community members in the protected areas.

Pakistan was among the countries faced with severe economic impacts because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which rendered thousands of people unemployed.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, however, launched a unique post-Covid-19 green economic recovery initiative dubbed as Green Stimulus Initiative for creation of green employment opportunities for those rendered jobless after the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

“Under the initiative, so far around 87,000 jobs have been generated all over the country in green sectors for the unemployed daily-wage workers and engaged in protected and forested areas to protect nature through various green activities,” said Mr Aslam.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2021