Pakistan’s Climate Agenda

Ambassador (R) Shafqat Kakakhel*

Abstract
(This article seeks to review the major policies evolved by Pakistan and the institutions
established by it to promote efforts toward mitigation and adaptation of climate change and
mobilize financial resources to implement its climate programs and projects. It also offers some
ideas on enhancing the success of its climate agenda in the short and longer terms. – Author)

Unless the deadly coronavirus pestilence continues to defy the all-out global efforts to
contain its spread within the next few months, thousands of representatives of the
international community will assemble in the Scottish city of Glasgow at the end of
October for two weeks of intense discussions on stepping up concerted actions to ward
off the looming climate crisis for which there can be no vaccine.

The Glasgow climate conference (officially known as the twenty sixth meeting of the
parties of the international agreements on climate change or COP 26), hosted by Britain
and jointly run with Italy was slated to take place in November 2020 but was put off for a
whole year due to Covid -19.1
COP 26 is being convened against a deeply sobering backdrop. The year 2020 was
found to be the hottest year of the decade and it saw an increase in climate induced
extreme events in all regions of the world.  During this year, there were devastating
wildfires in Australia, Siberia, the American West and South America and as many as
thirty storms in the Atlantic, leading to a “hurricane season”.  According to the latest
climate report of the World Metrological Organization, global temperature had already
risen to 1.2°C and there is a 20% possibility we might see an annual average above
1.5°C before 2024.2

The special report of the Inter-governmental panel on climate change had warned that
reaching the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C enshrined in the Paris Agreement
(2015) would require “rapid, far reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of
society, especially in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities”.

The central message of the IPCC report was that “global net human emissions of
carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45%from 2010 levels by 2030,
reaching net zero around 2050” (Net Zero means any remaining emissions would need
to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.). 3
The 2020 Emissions Gap report of the UN Environment Programme had stated:
“Despite a brief dip in carbon dioxide emissions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the
world is still headed for a catastrophic temperature rise in excess of 3°C this century—
far beyond the Paris Agreement’s goals of 2°C and 1.5°C”. 4

The main objective of the Glasgow climate conference would be to secure commitments
of carbon emission cuts matching the above warnings from the participating countries.
As a country that is vulnerable to all the negative impacts of climate change, Pakistan
has an existential interest in the outcome of COP 26. How can Pakistan utilize the
Glasgow meeting to secure greater appreciation of its vulnerability to climate change
and increase support for its efforts toward the twin objectives of adapting its economy to
the adverse effects of climate change and contributing to the global endeavor to reverse
it?

The Road to Paris (COP 21, December 2015) from Rio de Janeiro
(the UN Conference on Environment and Development- UNCED-,
June 1992).
In a remarkable example of policy being defined by science, leaders of more than 195
states adopted an agreement—the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or
UNFCC—in June 1992 at the conclusion of the UN Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED, also called the Earth Summit). The agreement was culminated
after more than a year and half long negotiations aimed at implementing the
recommendations of the first assessment of the Inter- Governmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the prestigious assessment panel established by the UN in 1987 to
investigate all aspects of climate change, including international cooperation to address
the newly identified global threat.

The Climate Change Convention upheld the scientific consensus that the huge increase
in heat-trapping Greenhouse Gases (GHG), especially carbon dioxide (CO2) released
from burning of coal, gas and, later, oil for generating energy since the Industrial
Revolution has upended the natural balance of the planetary climate. It also confirmed
that although developing countries had not contributed to the historic buildup or new
releases of carbon, they would likely  bear the major brunt of the  disruptions wrought by
a heating planet such as  high surface and ocean temperatures and extreme weather
events like floods and droughts, coastal hurricanes, rapid melting of Ice and snow
stored by the planetary glacial system, rising  sea level and ocean acidification flooding
coastal regions,  tsunamis and life threatening heatwaves.
The Convention stated the obligation of developed countries to lead the efforts to
restore climate stability as well as assist developing countries, through financial and
technological support to cope with the negative effects of climate change. The UNFCC
stressed that climate change, being a global threat, could only be addressed through
concerted actions by the international community and instituted annual ministerial level
meetings of countries that had ratified the Convention to consider cooperative measures
for restoring climate stability. The Convention embraced the ‘principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’ (CBDR) in regard to actions to
roll back climate change.5
The third meeting of Parties (COP3) of the UNFCC, held in Kyoto (Japan) in December
1997, adopted an agreement called the Kyoto Protocol requiring the thirty–eight (38)
developed countries identified in the Convention to reduce their carbon emissions by
5% compared to 1990 levels in an effort to mitigate global warming and its
consequences. The United States Congress rejected the Protocol.  The implementation
of the Protocol was uneven because several rich countries reneged on their
commitments.6

The UNFCC and the Kyoto Protocol led to the establishment of scores of climate
change research stations and advocacy forums to advance scientific research on all
aspects of climate change, especially the drivers and impacts of climate change as well
as mitigation efforts such as promoting better management of forests, energy efficiency
and conservation and developing cleaner, non- fossil-based sources of energy.
However, both developed and developing countries continued to spew growing amounts
of carbon and other GHG due to their fossil fuel powered industrial development and
energy intensive lifestyles.

In 2006, China replaced the United States as the largest emitter of CO2 although the
US and other OECD countries continued to release huge quantities of CO2.  Russia
and a few developing countries in different regions also increased their GHG emissions,
thanks to their rapid industrial and agricultural development. 7
Anticipating the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012—while climate change was getting
worse—COP 13, held in Bali (Indonesia) in 2007, decided to initiate negotiations for a
new agreement on sharper reduction in the ever-increasing global carbon emissions.
Developed countries jointly demanded commitments by the fast-developing countries to
curtail their carbon emissions in order to promote climate change mitigation. Developing
countries initially resisted but eventually conceded whilst linking their emission cuts to
financial and technological cooperation and support by the developed countries. 8
COP15, held in Copenhagen in December 2009, was expected to adopt a new climate
agreement. Negotiations were plagued by evidently unbridgeable differences between
the developed and developing nations.  At the last minute, a group of world leaders,
including   President Obama and President Xie Jinping, jointly drafted a short 2-page
document captioned the ‘Copenhagen Accord’, containing key elements of global
climate action concerning   Mitigation, Adaptation, Finance, Technology support, and
Capacity Building. They were able to secure the support of a large number of
developing and least developed countries for the Accord. However, the statement was
turned down by the concluding plenary of the Conference. 9
Despite the formal rejection of the Copenhagen Accord, its major elements were
elaborated during COP 16 and subsequent conferences which formally approved the
arrangements, including the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, the Technology
Support Network, etc. The Paris Agreement adopted at COP21, held in Paris in
December 2015, consolidated all the previous decisions and added new elements. 10

The Paris Agreement:

The Paris Agreement declared that “holding the increase in the global average
temperature to well below 2°C above pre- Industrial levels” was the overriding goal to be
pursued by the international community. It called for mitigation through reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions carried out by countries “on a voluntary basis” and pledged
in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to be notified by all
parties and updated periodically.  Developed countries committed to jointly mobilize
USD 100 billion per year in public and private funds from 2020 onward for supporting
developing and least developed countries in their mitigation and adaptation actions. 
The Agreement mentions the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage
agreed at a previous conference to support countries adversely affected by extreme
climate events but did not provide any funding for its activities. The Agreement
confirmed the establishment of a Technology Mechanism to assist developing countries
in receiving climate friendly technology. It also mentioned capacity building support to
developing countries for mitigation and adaptation actions, technology development and
deployment, access to climate finance; education and training.

The most striking feature of the Paris Agreement was that, whilst it upheld the UNFCC,
it abolished, in practical terms, the so- called firewall between developed and
developing countries based on the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities (CBDR) by requiring all countries, rich or poor, to commit to reducing
their carbon emissions.

Under the Paris Agreement all parties shall submit their revised NDCs by 2021 which
would replace those compiled in 2015. The NDCs are required to be updated every five
years. The underlying hope is that peer pressure, technological improvements and
reduced costs of renewable energy would enable countries to pledge deeper cuts in
their carbon emissions. The Agreement prescribes stringent measures for ensuring
clarity, transparency, and understanding (CTU) for the pledges contained in the NDCs
in order to ensure that Parties report accurately on their carbon inventories and how
they intend to mitigate their emissions. The CTU measures will also be used for
considering the requests of developing countries for financial support from the GCF.
The CTU provisions were to be elaborated during future COPs.

It took protracted negotiations over three COPs in 2016-8 to reach agreement on CTU
and other provisions of the Paris Agreement, collectively referred to as the Rule Book of
the Paris Agreement.  For developing countries like Pakistan with limited scientific
knowledge and technical expertise the CTU related decisions pose a daunting
challenge. For example, the decision on transparency is accompanied by a long annex
containing the ‘Modalities, Procedures, and Guidelines’ (MPGs) under various headings
such as national inventory reports of carbon emissions by sources and ( their) removals
by sinks; metrics ; reporting guidance; information necessary to track progress in
implementing and achieving NDCs concerning mitigation, climate change impacts and
adaptation; information on technology development and transfer and capacity building
support. Only a handful of developing countries will likely have the requisite technical
competence to implement the guidelines.11
Reflecting eagerness to promote effective mitigation measures, the Paris Agreement
(Article14) provides for a Global Stock take of the implementation of the Agreement in
all respects in 2023 and every five years thereafter. 12 The underlying hope is that the
international community will be able to calibrate its climate related actions, especially
mitigation, according to the latest available scientific assessment and political
consensus.
Impact of Climate Change on Pakistan.
The impact of climate change on communities, countries, and regions as well as
ecosystems will be proportionate to their vulnerabilities. Further, whilst some of the
effects of climatic changes will be unprecedented—for example, the rising levels of seas
and their consequences and the acidification of oceans—in most cases climate change
will tend to amplify pre- existing fault lines, such as special geographical features or
patterns of precipitation. It is, therefore, useful to understand the physical and man-
made conditions which account for the climate vulnerabilities of the respective country,
region or ecosystem.

Pakistan’s vulnerabilities to climate change have been shaped by the country’s geo-
physical features, large and fast-growing population, rampant poverty, low levels of
scientific and technical knowledge as well as governance, policy, and institutional
deficits. Most of the ecosystems have been rendered vulnerable by the poor quality of
the bulk of our land mass marked by arid and semi-arid soil, low level of precipitation,
and erratic supply of fresh water. Pakistan’s fresh water supply depends on the melting
of ice and snow stored by the high-altitude mountain glaciers of the Himalaya,
Karakoram and Hindu Kush which feed all the rivers of the Indus River Basin,
Pakistan’s single river basin. The country’s surface and underground water resources
are supplemented by rain from the monsoons. Since both glacier melt and the major
monsoon rains occur during the four summer months, Pakistan has to contend with
varying degrees of water shortage during some or most of the remaining eight months.

Owing to the aridity of its soil and low level of precipitation, Pakistan’s agricultural
outputs are critically dependent on perennial irrigation; poor monsoon rains are a sure
recipe for low productivity and food deficit.

Pakistan’s 1000 km long coastline makes the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan highly
vulnerable to the ravages of rising sea levels which have already destroyed human
settlements, affected fisheries, and salinized large areas in the historically fertile Indus
delta.  More than a million members of the fishing community and farmers have been
driven out of their homes and livelihoods by the rising sea level. 13

Pakistan had, at the time of independence, meager (5%) forest cover, mostly limited to
the northern region.  Poor governance and management and willful pillage perpetrated
by timber mafia have further reduced the green cover.

The tyranny of our physical and topographical contours is accentuated by our chronic
governance and policy and institutional weaknesses as well as widespread poverty and
ill health. All these add up to heightened vulnerability, especially during extreme
weather phenomena such as floods, hurricanes, heatwaves storms, and droughts.

To sum up, freshwater resources and disaster risk management are the two most
vulnerable sectors of Pakistan.  A significant reduction in our surface water will
adversely affect our food security, our large and important livestock sector, and our
hydropower and nuclear power generation capacities. Similarly, climate – induced
weather conditions such as floods, droughts, intense heatwaves invariably cause large
scale infrastructural damage and health hazards.

An Overview of Pakistan’s Climate Change Policies and Initiatives

 The Task Force on Climate Change (2008-2010)

The establishment of a multi-disciplinary Task Force on Climate Change (TFCC)
comprising of experts drawn from the Government and civil society in October 2008
under the auspices of the Planning Commission was the first significant initiative of the
Government of Pakistan to assess the challenges posed by climate change and identify
measures to mitigate the causes of anthropogenic temperature rise. The TF was also
mandated to propose how Pakistan could adapt its economic sectors and ecosystems
to the negative consequences of climate change. With the assistance of a small but
competent secretariat provided by the Global Change Impact Study Centre (GCISC)—a
climate research and modeling Centre set up by the Government in 2002—and inputs
by half a dozen inter-ministerial working groups, the TFCC was able to produce, in a
little over a year, a comprehensive report. The report listed the negative effects of
climate change on our natural resources and key economic sectors such as fresh water,
agriculture and livestock and food security, energy security, sustainability of our coastal
areas and Indus Deltaic Region, forests and other vulnerable ecosystems. It also
reviewed the over- all institutional capacity of the country   for dealing with climate
change. The TF proposed a set of objectives for a climate change policy of Pakistan.
The final report of the TFCC was submitted to the Cabinet in February 2010. 14

 The National Climate Change Policy of Pakistan (NCCP)-2012

The TFCC report served as the basis for Pakistan’s National Climate Change Policy
(NCCP) developed in 2012, listing over a hundred policy recommendations related to
energy, water resources, food production, health, disaster risk management and coastal
and Deltaic region.  The policy recommendations were entirely based on the familiar
work of climate change experts and relevant decisions of UN agencies. They covered
both mitigation and adaptation as well as disaster preparedness and management and
capacity building of departments dealing with sectors prone to adverse climate impacts.

NCCP’s recommendations on adaptation included water resource management:

building of additional storage dams and distribution infrastructure; conservation of both
surface and ground water through legislation and enhanced management; protection of
wetlands and rangelands; addressing all aspects of sea water rise and intrusion in
coastal and Deltaic areas. The Policy also called for addressing the climate challenges
of agriculture and livestock sector, including development of new varieties of higher
yielding and heat resistant crops; introducing new heat resistant livestock; modern,
micro irrigation methods such as sprinklers and drip irrigation. The section on
adaptation also included suggestions regarding health and sanitation, including clean
drinking water.15
The NCCP’s section on climate mitigation identified energy, agricultural practices,
industrial processes, Land Use, Land Use Change, Forestry and waste as the main
contributors to Pakistan’s relatively small GHG emissions. The policy recommendations
included measures to enhance energy efficiency and conservation as well as
development of alternative and renewable sources of energy such as hydro, solar, wind,
bioenergy, geothermal, and electricity produced from municipal waste. 16

The NCCP also called for efforts to preserve the country’s biodiversity through more
effective implementation of the biodiversity action plans, expansion of national protected
areas, and protection of coastal mangroves, etc.

The NCCP recommended the establishment of CCP Implementation Committees at

federal and provincial levels. It suggested that a high-level National Climate Change
Committee chaired by the Prime Minister guide and encourage its effective
implementation.

The NCCP called for strengthening the institutional capacities of of federal and
provincial governments, stressed the importance of regional and international
cooperation for promoting the global and national climate goals and suggested
enhanced participation by Pakistan in inter- governmental climate discourses. 17

 The Framework for the Implementation of the NCCP

In 2013 the M/O Climate Change compiled a Framework for the Implementation of the
NCCP which prioritized the implementation of the recommendations giving higher
priority to water resources and energy resources. 18 However, neither the long list of
suggested policy interventions noted in the NCCP nor those included in its
implementation framework were implemented or even elaborated through time-bound,
costed programs and projects.  The high-level Climate Change Committee did not meet
even once.  The M/O Climate Change continued to suffer from chronic human, financial,
and technical resource deficits.  The only provincial government which made efforts to
implement the NCCP was the Punjab Government.  No efforts were made to promote
inter- ministerial coordination on climate change issues. The quality of Pakistan’s
participation in regional and international conferences also remained lackluster.
In 2013-14, under the guidance of the Government headed by Nawaz Sharif, the
Planning Commission compiled Vision 2025—a medium-term national development
framework with high sounding objectives and ambitions. The Vision document noted the
findings of the fifth (5th) Assessment Report of the Inter- governmental Panel on Climate
Change (2014) on the risks posed by climate change in the absence of adequate
actions by the international community to drastically slash GHG emissions.  Vision 2025
promised to protect Pakistan’s economy and ecosystems from the negative effects of
climate change. However, there was no follow up on the recommendations included in
Vision 2025. Even the subsequent Five-Year Plan did not reflect its targets. 19
  The National Climate Change Act (2017)
In 2017 Pakistan’s parliament adopted a National Climate Change Act proposed by the
Ministry of Climate Change which qualifies as the most significant milestone in the
evolution of Pakistan’s climate change agenda.  The Act provides for a robust
institutional architecture for addressing risks posed by climate change to Pakistan. The
Act provides for the establishment of a National Climate Change Council (NCCC)
chaired by the Prime Minister or a Minister appointed by him. The NCCP is mandated to
approve national climate –related policies and coordinate their implementation.20
 The Act also provides for the formation of a National Climate Change Authority (NCCA)
to serve as the main mechanism for the entire spectrum of climate change actions,
including finalizing climate change programs and projects, particularly those submitted
for funding to the Green Climate Fund and other multilateral funding windows, including
International Finance Institutions (IFIs). The Climate Change Authority is to be advised
and supported by several advisory committees comprising of experts in relevant
subjects representing ministries and other public sector organizations as well as the civil
society, including those belonging to international non- governmental organizations. 21
The Act also provides for the establishment of a National Climate Change Fund for
receiving contributions, grants and endowments for climate related activities and
disbursing the same for climate related activities.  However, it does not mention the size
of the Fund.22

Climate Change experts have been demanding the earliest possible operationalization
of the Climate Law in order to see purposeful actions for addressing climate change
risks. Regrettably the current PTI Government has evidently put the Climate Law on the
back burner in a blatant and inexplicable defiance of the demands of civil society and
the need for the institutional mechanisms enshrined in the Law. The Government seems
oblivious of the fact that a robust institutional set up is indispensable for Pakistan’s
effective participation in the global climate efforts and receiving support from the Green
Climate Fund and other multilateral windows of finance as well as the mechanisms for
facilitating transfer of climate friendly technologies and enhancing the capacities of
relevant institutions.

 The Alternative and Renewable Energy Development Policy (2020)

In August 2020, the then Federal Power Minister announced a new Alternative and
Renewable Energy Policy, representing an upgraded version of the 2006 ARE Policy
but not superseding it. The policy takes on board the global technological advances in
renewable energy technologies and best practices concerning investment. 23

The new targets fixed by the Government for renewable energy include generating 8000
MW of electricity by 2025 and 20,000 by 2030 representing 20 and 30% of Pakistan’s
energy from renewable sources. The feasibility of achieving this target has been
confirmed by technical studies commissioned by the World Bank.  The Power Minister
mentioned that the combined share of renewable energy and hydropower would be
52% in 2025 and reach 63% by 2030.
The Government has claimed that the innovative modalities for the award of contracts
for setting up RE plants which were based on global best practices would accelerate the
pace of investment in clean energy.

As per the new policy, the Government will periodically announce the production
targets, identify the sites, announce the type of renewable energy and invite bids by
local and international investors.  The cost factor will be decisive in the award of
contracts. The Government has also announced its resolve to actively promote
domestic manufacturing of solar panels and wind turbines.

The scope of renewable sources includes solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, ocean/tidal
wave technology, energy from all kinds of waste and hydrogen or synthetic gas. A
comprehensive study prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
in collaboration with the Alternative and Renewable Energy Development Board has
confirmed the promising potential of renewable energy in Pakistan. 24
Pakistan’s Economic Survey 2019-20 noted that the most significant feature of the new
RE policy is that it makes a transition from the traditional methods of procurement
based on cost plus and upfront tariffs to competitive bidding. 25
The Government has announced that the import of all equipment, machinery, and
manufacturing material will be exempted from payment of duty. The earnings of RE
projects will also be exempted from payment of income tax. Notably, the World Bank
was requested to develop a strategy for the implementation of the new AED policy as
well as organize auctions for securing competitive bidding for RE generation, including
localization of manufacturing technology. 26

Prime Minister Imran Khan has been highlighting the target of securing 60% of energy
from clean, renewable sources in his statements at global meetings. However, no
concrete steps have been taken by the Government to effectively implement the new
renewable energy policy.

 The National Water Policy (2018)

Given that the most serious negative impacts of climate change in Pakistan will be on the
freshwater sector, it is important to mention the adoption in April 2018 of Pakistan’s first
ever National Water Policy (NWP) under the auspices of the Council of Common
Interest (CCI) and steered by the Planning Commission.  The NWP is a comprehensive
framework document covering the entire spectrum of issues concerning fresh water
resources.27
The objectives of the NWP include: promotion of sustainable consumption and
production patterns throughout the water sector from exploitation to utilization;
promoting efficient use and conservation of water; improving availability, reliability, and
quality of fresh water resources; improving urban water management; recycling and
reuse of waste water by all user sectors; improved watershed management of rivers
and water courses; enhanced management of  floods; effective management of
droughts to ensure the sustainability of the Indus aquifer; better maintenance of water
infrastructure; developing regulatory system for ground water; modern, micro irrigation
techniques; protection of lakes,  and wetlands, for the protection of wild life and flora
and fauna; assessing the impacts of climate change on the water sector and
development of adaptation strategy; and mainstreaming of integrated management of
water resources.28
The NWP provides a broad framework for development of elaborate policies by both the
Federal and Provincial government concerning subjects under their watch.  Perhaps,
the most significant feature of the NWP is its provision of enhanced public sector
investment in the water sector.29

The NWP seems to have suffered the fate of the National Climate Law due to the
evident indifference of the current Government. The Federal Ministry of Water
Resources continues to be one of the weakest divisions of the Federal Government,
despite the higher mandate and responsibilities assigned to it under the NWP. The half
a dozen or so autonomous water related statutory bodies also suffer willful neglect and
tend to operate in their own silos.

Climate Change Initiatives of the Current Government.

The current PTI Government headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan has impeccable
environmental credentials.  At the commencement of the campaign for the 2014
election, the PTI was the only political party to come up with a well-prepared
environmental manifesto.  The provincial government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (2014-
2018) in which PTI was a major partner carried out the highly successful Billion Tree
Tsunami which has reportedly inspired the much more ambitious Ten Billion Tree
Tsunami announced by the PTI Government following its electoral victory.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Special Adviser on Climate Change, Malik Amin
Aslam, regularly issue statements reiterating their resolve to protect the natural
environment of Pakistan.  They actively participate in the U.N. General Assembly,
ECOSOC, and special  international climate change and biodiversity conferences and
other forums at which they highlight their commitment to  global climate action.

The most significant climate change-related initiative of the current Government is the
Ten Billion Trees Tsunami project aimed at planting and growing ten billion trees in all
provinces and regions of Pakistan.  The project was launched in 2018. 30
The Government has set a target of planting One billion trees by end June 2021. The
broader objectives of the Tree campaign is to revive the country’s forest and wildlife
resources, to improve the overall conservation of the existing protected areas,
encourage eco-tourism, and job creation.

Part of the funding for the 10 billion Tree Campaign will be provided by the Pakistan
Eco- system Restoration Fund (ESRF)established by the Government which has
received USD 180 million from the World Bank as well as some funding from the KFW-
the German Development Finance Bank.  The ESRF will also provide funding for
climate change adaptation projects such as Afforestation, Conserving bio- diversity and
Mitigating Land Degradation, Conservation of Marine Life and Promoting Blue
Economy, Promoting Eco-Tourism, and Electric Vehicles. The funds will be maintained
by the Pakistan Natural Disaster Reduction Authority. The Pakistan Eco-system
Restoration Fund was formally launched in Madrid in December 2019 during COP25. 31
The Government has announced not to allow any additional coal-based power
generation projects and claims to have replaced plans for two large coal-based power
plants by hydropower projects.

The Government has decided to enlarge the country’s protected areas and has
increased the number of national parks from thirty to forty-five. A National Park Service
is being launched to create new jobs and ensure protection of the assets of the parks.

The Government has announced its intention to ban the import, production, and sale of
all single-use plastics as part of combating pollution.

The Government has approved a National Electric Vehicles Policy targeting a 30% shift
to electric cars by 2030. The Government has decided to promote use of cleaner fuels
by all vehicles.

The Government is promoting a Recharge Pakistan program comprising of a number of

conservation measures such as rain harvesting, storm water management and
combating solid waste in twenty cities across the country.

The Government has launched the construction of a Zero Emission Bus Rapid Transit
System (BRT) in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city with a population of nearly 15 million. 
Funded by the Green Climate Fund, the project is due to be completed in 2024.   Similar
projects have been completed in Lahore and Peshawar with funding from China (under
CPEC) and the Asian Development Bank. 32

The Way Ahead: Recommendations for COP 26 and the longer-term.

Pakistan’s climate change policies and initiatives do not seem to compare favorably with
those of other developing countries.  A major reason is the country’s  weak institutional
architecture which is limited to a small, poorly-resourced  federal ministry of climate
change and the Global Change Impact Study Centre( GCISC), Pakistan’s sole climate
research and modeling Centre. The M/O CC was established in 2010 in the wake of the
Eighteenth (18th) Constitutional Amendment which had abolished the role of the Federal
Government in environmental protection and devolved the subject of Environment and
Ecology to the provinces.  Lobbying by Pakistan’s civil society supported by the UN
agencies and international NGOs eventually led to the establishment of the M/O Climate
Change from the debris of the erstwhile Ministry of Environment. Notwithstanding its
nomenclature, the newly established ministry was also mandated to promote follow up
on the dozen or so multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) ratified by Pakistan.

Despite the formal adoption of an ambitious National Climate Change Policy (NCCP),
no effort has been made to equip the M/O CC with an adequate budget, technically
qualified human resources, and a respectable profile to enable it to serve as the fulcrum
of efforts to address the most daunting threat of climate change. Thus far, one of the
few climate change related functions performed by the M/O CC is to send a few of its
officials to the annual COPs without a brief or guidance on the positions to be taken by
the Pakistan delegation on the issues being deliberated at the conference. The officials
neither write any report on their contribution to the debates, nor inform the general
public about the outcome of the COP from Pakistan’s perspective. Pakistan has not
been able to play a prominent or active role at the COPs. Its delegations are obliged to
pay lip service to the positions articulated by the Group of Like- minded Countries on
the issues being considered by the COPs.

Preparations for COP 26.

Given the increasing attention being paid by Prime Minister Imran Khan to environment
and climate change issue and his impressive participation in the various climate related
high level virtual conferences, it is hoped that the Government would make an effort to
ensure a more meaningful participation in the forthcoming COP 26 in Glasgow.

The most important obligation of all Parties to the Paris Agreement is the submission
during 2020 of the document comprising of its revised Nationally Determined
Contribution (NDC). Accordingly, the Government must ensure that its new NDC
submission is prepared in time and   includes the elements identified during inter-
governmental discussions on the subject. Even if the task of revising the NDC is
assigned to external consultants, the Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for Climate
Change must ensure that Pakistani stakeholders, including senior officials of the key
federal ministries and civil society representatives, are associated with the process from
the outset. This will ensure that the NDC commitments enjoy the ownership of all the
relevant stakeholders.

Prior to the Glasgow conference, the M/O CC, in cooperation with UN agencies and civil
society organizations, should organize stakeholder consultations on the key issues to
be addressed during the meeting with a view to ensuring that the Brief compiled by the
M/O CC for COP 26 takes on board the views of all the stakeholders.  The Brief should
be widely disseminated among the officials of the federal and provincial governments
who are likely to join the Pakistan delegation at COP 26 as well as civil society and the
media.

Following the conclusion of COP 26, the M/O CC should brief the Cabinet and the
relevant parliamentary committees as well as the general public on the outcome of the
conference and how the Government intends to follow up on its decisions.

Beyond the Glasgow Climate Conference

 Recognize Climate Change as a national security imperative.

Pakistan’s National Security Policy and Strategy which is said to be under preparation
should formally recognize climate change as a key factor of national security as a
means of raising the profile of climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.
  Pakistan’s Revised National Climate Change Policy: preparation of the
plans of action on mitigation (NAMAS) and adaptation (NAPAs).
At the request of the Government of Pakistan, the Asia and Pacific Regional Office of
the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP- ROAP) is revising the country’s climate
change policy.  This was long overdue since the existing NCCP (2012) was essentially
meant to highlight possible mitigation and adaptation initiatives largely based on the
report of the TFCC completed in 2010.

It is hoped that the new NCCP will benefit from global best practices and provide
practical guidelines on the elaboration of Pakistan’s climate mitigation and adaptation
priorities to catalyze the finalization of well-constructed Plans of Action on Mitigation and
Adaptation.  Pakistan’s inability to evolve Mitigation and Adaptation strategies and
action plans has been mainly responsible for the lack of substantive progress in the
country’s climate agenda. The NCCP guidelines on mitigation and adaptation must
necessarily aim at implementing the Rule Book of the Paris Agreement.

 Protecting Pakistan’s Transboundary Waters.

Pakistan must safeguard its rights as the main riparian of the Indus River System
through the implementation, in letter and spirit, of the India-Pakistan Indus Waters
Treaty (1960). It should also establish mutually beneficial cooperation with Afghanistan
for the optimum development of the assets of the shared Kabul River Basin for the
benefit of their fraternal peoples. 33

 Ensuring Implementation of policies already announced.

The new Alternative and Renewable Energy Development Policy (2020) and the plans
for increasing the share of electric vehicles to 30% are highly laudable initiatives but
their achievement is predicated on determined efforts, including the building of requisite
infrastructure such as adequate number of conveniently located filling stations and
mechanical maintenance of the vehicles.  As of now, there is no credible evidence of
serious efforts to effectively implement either the new RE policy or bring on the road   
electric vehicles that would help address one of the major sources of air pollution in the
country apart from mitigating carbon emissions.

 Ensure adequate funding for the 10 Billion Tree Campaign.

The success of the Ten Billion Tree planting campaign will also depend on securing
funding from various sources, including the Green Climate Fund and the Global
Environment Facility, in addition to administrative measures necessary for a huge
program such as this.

 Strengthening capacities of the National and Provincial Disaster

Management Authorities.
Given the likely increase in the number, duration, and intensity of extreme weather
events due to climate change, efforts must continue to be made to augment the
forecasting, monitoring, assessment, and response capacities of the federal and
provincial disaster management authorities of the country.

 Strengthening coordination among governments at all levels and non-

state stakeholders.
It is suggested that the Government considers measures to ensure vertical and
horizontal coordination. The aim of vertical coordination should be to harmonize climate-
related initiatives of the key federal ministries and departments such as finance,
revenues, energy, food security and agriculture, foreign affairs, and climate change. The
horizontal coordination would ensure that the actions for the implementation of the
climate change mitigation and adaptation are taken up by or with the full participation of
the provincial government agencies at lower levels.  Efforts should also be made to
enlist the support of non-state stakeholders, in particular the private sector in disaster
management.

 Operationalization of the National Climate Act (2017).

The Government should ensure the full operationalization of the Climate Law by
formally announcing the formation of the National Climate Council chaired by the Prime
Minister as well as its first meeting prior to COP 26; establishing the Climate Change
Authority along with its advisory bodies, and the Climate Change Fund.

 Promotion of climate – related cooperation with China and other

friendly countries.

 Given the benefits of cooperation with our neighboring countries with similar
topographical and socio-economic conditions, the Government should continue its
efforts to resuscitate  the currently moribund South Asia Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) under whose umbrella considerable progress had been made
in identifying areas of climate related cooperation and establishing over half a dozen
regional centres for catalyzing inter-governmental cooperation in areas of special
concern to the  South Asian region.

 The Government should also actively explore the potential of beneficial

cooperation with China which has emerged as the world leader in key mitigation
activities such as renewable energy, manufacture of electric vehicles, and combating
desertification and afforestation. Climate-focused collaboration, including the
manufacturing of equipment for renewable energy such as solar panels, storage
batteries, and wind turbines should be added to the Terms of Reference of the
existing Sino-Pakistan institutional mechanism.

 The Government may also seek to forge climate related cooperation with other
friendly countries in the OECD. The efforts might be spearheaded by the
 establishment of a task force chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to identify
measures to promote cooperation with friendly countries, the U.N. system and
multilateral agencies for spurring low carbon green growth in Pakistan.

 Enhancement of the quality of climate related courses of study and

training in the country.
A large number of Pakistani universities are offering graduate and post-graduate
courses of Study in environmental sciences and climate change.  The quality of
instruction and training has been uneven.  There is an urgent need to improve the
quality of instruction and training offered by our educational institutions. Friendly
countries and U.N. agencies such as UN University, UNEP, UNDP, and UNITAR and
universities in friendly developed countries may be approached for supporting our
climate related academic courses.