ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and Minister of State on Climate Change Zartaj Gul on Saturday jointly denied any brawl or misunderstanding at COP26 and said the allegations made by MNA Riaz Fityana at Public Accounts Committee meeting were baseless.

A statement, issued here by the ministry, said COP26 was held in a successful manner with due recognition to Pakistan, during which useful meetings of the special assistant and the state minister with various heads of delegations, heads of international organisations, with UN bodies were held as per official schedule of meetings.

During the meetings, Pakistan’s green agenda was appreciated and Pakistan’s pavilion was one of the busiest pavilions lauded by the several heads of delegations and international organisations, the statement said.

While representing Pakistan both of them individually and jointly attended various events and highlighted the prominent initiatives of the government including Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood , Climate Smart Agriculture, Protected Areas Initiatives, Clean Green Pakistan, etc., held during COP26. They maintained that they highlighted Pakistan as one of the top climate action champion countries of the world. “The officials of MoCC attending COP26 worked day and night and were able to make COP26 a successful event for Pakistan,” said the statement.

“The success of Pakistan in COP26 can be gauged from the facts that the British government had regarded Pakistan as one of the four countries ranked as nature champions out of 196 countries in the world. Also, the UN system has declared Pakistan as one of the top three countries ranked as Forestry Leaders, among 196 countries across the Globe,” Malik Amin Aslam said while talking to Dawn.

“MNA Riaz Fityana was not part of Pakistan’s official delegation and was representing a non-governmental organization without any invitation of MoCC,” said Malik Amin Aslam.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2021