Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives has said that the government of Pakistan had made encouraging green investment a key priority in order to address the country’s mounting environmental problems.
He made this known during the panel discussion at the launching of “Friends of Greening National Investment Plans in Africa and Developing Countries Initiative” on “Solutions Day” hosted by Minister for Planning and Economic Development Egypt Hala El-Said on the margins of COP27 Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.
The minister said the government was taking steps to promote various sources of renewable energy including solar energy and it would discourage the use of fossil fuels for electricity production.
He was speaking in the panel discussion at the launching of “Friends of Greening National Investment Plans in Africa and Developing Countries Initiative” on “Solutions Day” hosted by Minister for Planning and Economic Development Egypt Hala El-Said on the margins of the COP27 Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.
He added that the government had initiated a project for the production of 10,000 MW of electricity through solar panels.
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Ahsan Iqbal said the government was also planning to elevate the 20 most backward districts of Pakistan through sustainable development.
He said in Pakistan, each project needed to be at par with the environmental standards.
Pakistan, he said was contributing less than 1% to global warming but still, it was among the top seven countries which were vulnerable to climate change risks.
Climate change is causing record heat, torrential rains and flooding in Pakistan, he said adding that climate change’s impacts are not fiction but have become reality now.
The minister maintained that climate change issues have directly affected 33 million people in Pakistan. He added the international Monetary system had failed to cope with the agenda of climate change.
He also called for establishing a special fund on the international level to develop infrastructure to adapt to the climate change risks.
The developed countries must focus their attention on the climate change impacts, as they were not an exception to the climate change impacts, Iqbal said.
He asked the developing countries to share their experiences about the climate change impacts to cope with the matter in a better way.
Story was adapted from Daily News Egypt.
