Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who made history by chairing the first meeting of Pakistan Climate Change Council on Wednesday, in a major decision regarding the rehabilitation of flood affected people and to avoid environmental dangers in future, has directed to devise a national plan for the construction of houses and infrastructure that could withstand climate change effects.
He also directed to propose measures for adopting the housing and construction styles as per climate changes and formulating a strategy in coordination with the federal and provincial governments to tackle the environmental issues timely and on permanent basis.
Pakistan Climate Change Council was established on the pattern of the Council of Common Interest with all the federal and provincial stakeholders on board. The Prime Minister besides directing to make PCCC a fully functional institution also called for formulating a comprehensive national plan to identify the climate change dangers in future.
In that regard, he directed to constitue a committee of experts for the preparation of comprehensive plan. The Prime Minister referred to the recent devastation caused by climate change induced floods in Sindh and Balochistan and said that despite less than one percent share in carbon emissions, Pakistan was among the top 10 climate change effected countries.
He said that without forgetting this devastation, they have to prepare for future and rehabilitation of the flood affected people. The Climate Change Council had a vital role in that respect, he added.The Prime Minister said that the focus should be on identification of dangers, provision of resources, and improvement in capacity of damage assessment. Work should also be done on how to avoid dangers, get the masses prepared and train the administration, he stressed.
The Prime Minister said with the area of Sindh delta dried due to climate change and the need to protect Pakistan from the danger of severe drought, meaures should be proposed as per the experts’ opinion.
