ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz on Saturday said the nation had always faced disasters with courage and resilience.

“We need national resolve, political commitment, and institutional determination to make the country resilient, build the capacity of departments like NDMA and its humanitarian partner International Rescue Committee (IRC) and make Pakistan a disaster-resilient country,” he said while speaking to the participants of second parliamentarian caucus.

According to a statement, the event was organised by NDMA in collaboration with the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Ministry of Climate Change on disaster risk management, and its humanitarian partner IRC.

The caucus aimed to highlight the role of parliamentarians in disaster management and stimulate understanding and develop a conversation on a variety of topics including catastrophe risk management, international frameworks, gender equality, and child protection.

The NDMA chairman welcomed the participants and emphasised the importance of parliamentarians in disaster risk management.

Federal Minister for National Food Security Syed Fakher Imam on the occasion, lauded the collaborated efforts of NDMA and its humanitarian partner IRC for creating a platform for parliamentarians to initiate a dialogue on disaster risk management.

He said: “Climate change and natural calamities result in disasters and their impact becomes an acute threat to sustainable development and peaceful co-existence, if we fail to respond to these challenges with an understanding and collectively as a mission.”

Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul commended the initiative by IRC and NDMA and voiced on the Caucus that, “Climate change stands today as one of the most critical threats to global development and we must focus on long term goals.”

Report on environmental analysis launched

In another event, President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Nadeem Rauf said that he himself and his team was committed to achieve carbon-neutral status for Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Pakistan’s first green chamber of commerce and industry.

He was speaking at a report launch ‘Gone Missing? - An analysis of voluntary environmental commitments for energy projects in Pakistan: A case for responsible banking’.

The report was launched by Indus Consortium in collaboration with the RCCI.

This report is intended to inform evidence-based policies and programmes for achieving compliance with environmental, social and governance criteria to pave path towards carbon-neutral, resilient economy.

Highlighting the main findings of the report, author Asim Jaffry said, “The policymakers must pay attention to translate Prime Minister Imran Khan’s commitment of producing 60pc of Pakistan’s energy needs through renewable resources by 2030.” He also mentioned there is a need for phased approach/step by step stakeholder consultations to take the business community on board and direct the banks to facilitate responsible lending practices (ESG). He said the State Bank of Pakistan must pay attention to come up with social framework for well-being of local communities while lending/project financing for the commercial banks in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, Hussain Jarwar, Chief Executive Officer, Indus Consortium said, 60pc of global carbon emissions are emitted by five countries including China, US, Russia, India and Japan.

The private sector, corporations and banks must work collectively with the government to promote environmentally sustainable economic growth.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2021