ISLAMABAD: World Bank (WB) has agreed to facilitate an international conference with the collaboration of the Ministry of Climate Change in order to attract potential international donors for funding of key environmental projects in Pakistan.
The decision was taken in a meeting between Advisor to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Khan and the World Bank delegation in Islamabad on Friday. Federal Climate Change Secretary Shahrukh Nusrat and Additional Secretary Khurram Ali Agha were also present on the occasion.
The World Bank delegation called on the advisor to discuss common modalities for future cooperation in climate-related projects.
Malik Amin Aslam Khan apprised the delegates that environment was a major part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s eleven-point agenda which was presently being implemented in true letter and spirit.
“We have successfully completed the one-billion tree tsunami project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an initiative that received global praise. Now we are upscaling this into a ten billion tree tsunami project at the national level.”
The minister said that the government was well aware of the challenges pertaining to climate change, adding that the government had a clear agenda on the issue.
He noted that in Pakistan, 90 per cent water that comes from Tarbella goes directly to the Arabian Sea, lamenting that the country was yet to develop any mechanism to store that water.
The advisor said the government was working on alternative energy recourses by keeping in view the drastically changing climate situation. “In KP, we built 350 small hydropower units on running rivers and we will also upscale that model at the national level in the next phase. In order to implement all these agendas, we need the support of potential donors.
Anna Wellenstein, leader of the WB delegation, said that World Bank was ready to arrange an international conference with the collaboration of Ministry of Climate Change where Pakistan’s case would be presented and international assistance would be sought from potential donors.
The minister requested the World Bank to extend cooperation to deal with the issue of smog under the World Bank’s Green Punjab Project.
