Speakers at a webinar on “Geneva road map for a climate resilient Pakistan” said that it is unlikely to mature all the $10 billion commitments for post-flood recovery, rehabilitation and have to go for institutional and governance reforms to combat the challenges of climate change in the long-run.
A country-wide efficient adaptation plan shall be worked out on a bottom-up approach alongside religiously implementation of conservation strategies, they added. According to a press release issued here on Sunday, Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) organized the webinar with climate change expert Ali Tauqeer Sheikh as the keynote speaker. Other guest speakers included Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director Munir Ahmed, Lahore Garrison University assistant professor International Relations Dr. Zainab Ahmed, Economist at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Dr. Khalid Mahmood, and climate advocacy specialist Zahra Khalid Haque.
Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director and a well-known climate advocacy expert, Munir Ahmed introduced the subject of the webinar. He said the UN and Pakistan co-hosted the ‘International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan’ on January 9 at Geneva to present a $31.2 billion “Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF)”, which lays out a multisectoral strategy for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a climate-resilient and inclusive manner.
The other key objective was to secure international support and forge long-term partnerships for building Pakistan’s climate resilience and adaptation. Munir Ahmed said it was the first ever UN donor conference at Geneva to raise funds for any country. Pakistan needs to act wisely to safeguard its climate vulnerable communities with a stronger local governance system. The inclusive bottom-up approach, and multi-stakeholder monitoring for transparency will support sustainable recovery and rehabilitation. Ali Tauqeer Sheikh said resilient development is not possible without institutional reforms.
The urgency is staring us in the face with a current price tag of eight per cent GDP loss and projected GDP shrinking 20pc by 2050. In fact, resilience, reforms and economic development have become intrinsically linked, he stressed. The proposition is relatively straightforward: higher degree of preparedness can help us avoid public and private losses from climate-induced disasters.
