First-ever Local Adaptation Plan was established for Thatta and Chaman districts in Sindh and Balochistan
First-ever Local Adaptation Plan was established for Thatta and Chaman districts in Sindh and Balochistan, respectively, with collaboration from the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC)
ISLAMABAD: After being put on hold under the previous administration, the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) has restarted the process of creating the nation’s first-ever National Adaptation Plan in a record-breaking six months.
After being appointed as the Federal Minister for Climate Change in April 2022, Senator Sherry Rehman ordered the Ministry’s staff to call a meeting of the Climate Change Council, which had not been held since it was established by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, and to ensure the resumption of projects that were crucial to the nation’s resilience and preparedness for the effects of environmental disasters and climate change. The MoCC, working with the coalition government as a whole, prepared for the 27th Conference of Parties (COP-27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Egypt in just six months. They did this by presenting the case of developing nations in the global South that have been devastated by climate catastrophes.
The Minister issued an order to the Ministry’s personnel to ensure the development of a policy that is resilient to catastrophes and climate change and seeks to direct the federating for enhancing adaptation on a priority basis.
Words of Senator Sherry Rehman:
According to Senator Sherry Rehman, the Federal Minister for Climate Change, the nation is the world’s least significant generator of carbon emissions. Being the state most severely affected by climate disasters, it was not its obligation to concentrate on mitigation; rather, it had to ensure adaptation to global warming and environmental degradation for a sustainable future.
National adaption plan:
By developing thorough medium- and long-term plans that incorporate adaptation measures into national policy, the National Adaptation Plan for Building Resilience to Climate Change preparation process is intended to lessen vulnerabilities to climatic changes. The Minister stated, “Pakistan has been employing ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions in its national efforts to enhance climate resilience.
Additionally, a framework for a climate-resilient urban policy was being developed to identify potential hurdles for achieving sustainable and resilient urban development.
Ministry going to launch largest Living Indus Plan:
After consulting with the provinces, the Ministry launched the largest Living Indus effort to safeguard the Indus River from environmental deterioration as part of the coalition government’s overall agenda.
The World Bank report noted that the River Indus was under existential threat from natural deterioration, human incursion, and anthropogenic activities, making it unlikely that the water source supporting the thousands of years-old human civilizations would endure another fifty years.
The Ministry worked on the ambitious aim of safeguarding, cleansing, and revitalizing the only lifeline of the nation while taking into account the growing dangers and declining water levels in the Indus River.
Regional approach for Thatta and Chaman:
The Ministry also worked together to pilot the first Regional Approach That combines ever created for the districts of Thatta and Chaman in Sindh and Balochistan, respectively.
To ensure that the region affected by climate change could adopt, the document was based on local knowledge and the expert advice of international professionals.
The MoCC, in a novel move, took the lead in international negotiations while Pakistan presided over the G-77 plus China group engagements at COP-27 and successfully secured the approval of the long-standing initiative of the loss and damage fund, which was hailed by the international community as a critically important step led by the most vulnerable and climate-vulnerable countries.
