Minister wants stakeholders’ involvement in climate change debate

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Population Welfare Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Wednesday said that all stakeholders including policymakers, decision-makers, parliamentarians, civil society representatives and journalists should be engaged in the ongoing debate on climate change and ways and means to lessen its harmful effects. She said this during the launching ceremony of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report, titled ‘State of World Population – 2009’, here. The minister said the Programme of Action adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo was a milestone achievement in the history of population and development. She said her ministry was committed to working with other partner ministries for addressing population and environment issues. “These are the key concerns highlighted in our ministry’s communication and advocacy strategy, which is being projected in media campaigns,” she said. Earlier, University of Gujrat’s Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin presented the main findings of the UNFPA’s report. He said Pakistan with the sixth largest population in the world produced only 0.4 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), which meant that it was 135th on the list of global GHG emitters. “The irony is that while the country contributes very little to global warming, it still faces the challenge of climate change in almost all its manifestations,” he said. staff report

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