PESHAWAR: Experts in a seminar on Wednesday called for the business-government engagement framework for corporate social responsibility initiatives on climate change.

The event was arranged by the forestry, environment and wildlife department in collaboration with the Sub-National Governance (SNG) Programme, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to provide a collaborative platform to discuss the issues and challenges related to climate change planning and governance and make actionable recommendations to address them, according to a statement issued here.

The participants included officials of government departments, teachers of public and private sector universities, climate change policy experts, and representatives of the provincial government’s development partners, including FCDO and UNDP.

The seminar was addressed by environment secretary Islam Zeb, WWF Pakistan country director Hammad Naqvi and Foreign and Commonwealth Development Organisation director (development)Annabel Gerry.

Seminar held on issues of climate change planning, governance

“For the first time in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the climate change policy is discussed in reference to its implementation mitigating the associated challenges with experts from all walks of life,” Islam Zeb said, adding that the government is ready to review and update the climate change policy.

A multi-hazard vulnerability assessment carried out by the National Disaster Management Authority several years ago showed that eight districts covering a large geographical area were highly vulnerable to disasters and extreme climate events, including floods, avalanches, landslides, heat waves and glacial lake outburst floods, the statement said.

According to it, KP is the only province, which has developed the climate change policy and Climate Financing Framework.

The policy recommended measures for the provincial government to protect the vulnerable sectors from climate change impacts.

It suggested adaption and mitigation measures, including the use of renewable energy sources such as hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal and wind for electricity production, promotion of sustainable modes of road transport, for example, the mass transit systems, strengthening early warning systems for extreme weather events, developing waste management systems for municipal and hazardous wastes, and encouraging cleaner production and consumption in industries and households.

The statement added that as a follow-up to the policy, comprehensive action plans had been developed with a focus on 13 sectors, including agriculture and livestock, forestry, water resources, biodiversity, vulnerable ecosystems, energy, industry, transport, waste, urban planning, disaster preparedness, health and socioeconomic sector on poverty and gender.

The policy highlighted sector-specific risks of climate change alongside suggesting the requisite measures to minimise those risks and curtail the contribution of the sector to climate change.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2021