ISLAMABAD: The climate change adaptation is a critical concern for developing countries and in particular for Pakistan owing to the fragility of its ecosystems and its vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.

This was stated by Ministry of Climate Change Secretary Naheed Shah Durrani while addressing a two-day workshop on launch of National Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) System in Islamabad on Monday.

She said building resilience to climate change was a key focus of National Climate Change Policy of the government.

The government will ensure its cooperation with national and local agencies in this regard, she said.

The ministry has developed a Policy Framework to showcase the Pakistan’s commitment to the world, she further added.

Despite being the 5th largest population in the world and a small contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (less than 1pc), Pakistan is committed to reducing its GHG emissions, she added.

The national GHG inventory project aims at developing a framework for compiling GHG inventories, data collection, data sharing, data reporting and institutional arrangements, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) guidelines and Paris Agreement.

The two-day workshop has been organised by Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), and CITEPA, with support from GIZ Pakistan and NDC Partnership.

Head of GCISC Arif Goher said that as per Paris Agreement, all countries are required to produce reliable, transparent and comprehensive information on GHG emissions, climate actions and support under the Enhanced Transparency Framework. He explained that the new international adopted framework will enable the implementation of mitigation, adaptation and support actions as well as their monitoring over time.

This monitoring will be reported on a regular basis as part of the BTR (Biennial Transparency Report) which will replace the BUR (Biennial Updated report) by 2025, he added.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2021