ISLAMABAD – Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin AslamTuesday said over 170 foreign delegates including India have reachedPakistan to participate in the seventh International Union for Conservationof Nature (IUCN) Asia Regional Conservation Forum (RCF).
He made these remarks at a press conference here and said, “It is an honourfor Pakistan to host the seventh IUCN Asia RCF.”
Amin Aslam told media that the prime minister would inaugurate the forumwhere international environmental experts would mull over potentialenvironmental threats and challenges posed by climate change to Asia region.
“Pakistan’s initiatives to counter adverse impacts of climate change on theregion would be highlighted at the forum,” he said.
Asia, he said, is the global engine of world growth where we believe tosustain the existing development ratio without jeopardizing environment andnature, adding “This is the forum to learn from the success stories ofregional partners.”
Speaking on the occasion, Acting Director General of IUCN, Dr GrethelAguilar said Pakistan is rich in biodiversity, ecosystems and leastcontributor to global green house gas (GHG) emissions of less than onepercent.
“It is quite shocking to see that the country facing worst impacts ofclimate change despite being least contributor to global GHG emissionswhere its glaciers in Himalayan region are melting rapidly,” she said.
Dr Grethel said it was encouraging that a country of over 200 millionpeople had GHG emissions less than one percent.
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To a query, she told APP that IUCN had state representatives as its membersand was interested in taking up issues like Global Climate Fund – a fund,under Paris Agreement, to be contributed from advanced countries to providefinancial assistance to deserving countries to meet climatic challengesbeing faced across the world.
“We are interested to work with the most vulnerable countries to cope withclimate change issues,” she added.
“Through discussions in RCF, IUCN Members will have to help design thecontext of its next programme, on the basis of feedback received fromRegional Forum which would be shared in upcoming IUCN World ConservationCongress — the world’s leading platform for creating change forconservation and sustainable development scheduled to be held from June 11to19, 2020 in Marseille, France,” she added.
It is in this context that IUCN and the Ministry of Climate Change, areorganizing the 7th IUCN Asia Regional Conservation Forum (RCF) from 6 to 8November 2019 here.
The theme for this year is Greening Asia for Nature and People. The AsiaRegional Conservation Forum, organized every four years by IUCN, is one ofAsia’s most important regional conservation events.
The forum will bring together approximately 500 representatives ofgovernments, NGOs and the business sector from across Asia to come togetherin Islamabad for the IUCN Asia Regional Conservation Forum.
