Pakistan unveils blueprint for tackling climate change - Xinhua
Pakistan unveils blueprint for tackling climate change-Xinhua
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives on Sunday unveiled a comprehensive blueprint for tackling climate change while enhancing sustainable development under the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP).
In 2021, the government approved the NCCP to pursue sustained economic growth by addressing challenges of climate change, to integrate climate change policy with other interrelated national policies, and to build climate-resilient infrastructure, the ministry said in a statement.
Under the policy, the ministry has prepared a National Climate Finance Strategy (NCFS) aimed at identifying sectorial priorities and scaling climate finance, said the statement.
"This NCFS is a cornerstone in Pakistan's commitment to the Paris Agreement, focusing on leveraging private sector engagement, international climate finance, and carbon markets," it added.
Pakistan is among countries in the world that are most affected by weather/climate-related hazards such as floods, landslides, droughts, heat waves, extreme cold and cyclones. ■
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”