Experts Call For Devising Climate Change Strategy Held In Mirpur

The experts at a consultative workshop on Climate Change Strategy and Action Plans Thursday called for devising integrated strategies and plans by the stakeholders for establishing Climate Change related baseline data for Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

MIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Feb, 2018 ) , :The experts at a consultative workshop on Climate Change Strategy and Action Plans Thursday called for devising integrated strategies and plans by the stakeholders for establishing Climate Change related baseline data for Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The workshop was hosted to raise awareness among all the stake holders including diverse segments of the civil society, by the state-run Climate Change Center (CCC) of AJK. Divisional Commissioner Mirpur Muhammad Tayyeb Chaudhry inaugurated the workshop.

He emphasized the need for ensuring water, food and energy security and protecting different sectors from climate change impacts. He underlined that government of AJK had already established the Climate Change Center with the support of Asian Development Bank under Flood Emergency Reconstruction and resilience Project.

Muhammad Tayyeb continued that Pakistan was among the top most countries vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and AJK was one of the most vulnerable regions in Pakistan. "As such, the forest, water and land resources State need to be protected to safeguard the catchment of the Mangla reservoir and other potential hydropower stations, habitat and biodiversity, agriculture, physical infrastructure, animal and human health", he added.

Addressing the concluding session of the workshop, the chief guest - Vice Chancellor state-run Mirpur University of Science & Technology (MUST) Prof. Dr. Habib ur Rehman emphasized for making the climate change as the part of the syllabus in the country including AJK with prime focus to solve the issues related to the climate change with scientific term besides giving scientific look to each related issue, he added.

The VC termed the workshop as a strong source of awareness among the stakeholder institutions besides the masses to play their due role to avert threats to the security through different forms of climate.

The VC MUST said that his University will extend all possible help and assistance to all the government functionaries for awareness and improve the areas of the Climate Change. He applauded the role of the departments concerned for their respective responsibilities regarding climate change strategy and the action plans for AJK.

Addressing the workshop, Director General Climate Change Center of AJK government Dr.

Ch. Aurangzeb, Director General Environmental Protection Agency AJK Raja Muhammad Razaq Khan and other officials and experts from the two institutions highlighted the salient features and objectives of holding the workshop.

The Climate Change Center's head Dr. Ch. Aurangzeb disclosed that Climate Change Center has been established in AJK to develop the state climate change policy, strategies and sartorial action plans, devise mechanism and guidelines for their implementation, resource mobilization for climate change mitigation and adaptation at state, national and international levels, mainstream climate change impacts into AJK sartorial policies, strategies, development planning and budgetary processes.

Dr.Aurangzeb disclosed that the government of Pakistan have issued the grant of Rs. 23 million for the Climate Change sector in AJK and major chunk of these funds have gone to the Forest Department for the development and progress through reforestation and other means of uplift of the forests sector in the liberated territory.

He further said that the emergence of the CCC was also aimed at to meet AJK's obligations under United Nations Convention on Climate Change, United Nations Convention to Combat desertification and UN convention on Biological Diversity, promote inter-sectoral coordination in climate change vulnerabilities and action plans, support AJK Forest Department in the development of guidelines for sustainable Forest Management, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, stabilization of hill slopes through bio-engineering, ensure implementation of sustainable development plans, strategies and programs, awareness raising and capacity building on climate change and research and development and climate change governance, he underlined.

EPA Divisional Chief Sardar Idrees Mahmood, Former Inspector General for protection of forests in AJK Dr. Bashir Ahmed Wani, ex chief conservator of forests in AJK Raja Khizer Hayat, former Conservator Forests Malik Nisaar Ahmed, President Environmental Journalist Forum AJK Altaf Hamid Rao, Director Climate change Rasheed Shah, veteran journalist and analyst Jalal ud din Mughal and other experts also tabled their respective inputs for the climate change and its impacts in AJK.