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