ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change, Zahid Hamid has said that Pakistan is fully
committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day National Roundtable conference on Sustainable
Consumption and Production (SCP) National Action Plan the federal minister said, “On February
19, Pakistan registered a history and became the first country in the world whose National
Assembly passed a unanimous Resolution adopting the SDGs Agenda as its own national
development agenda,”
He further added that the resolution not only reflected the broad political support for the SDGs
but also clearly indicated that SDGs were now Pakistan’s development agenda. Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif, he asserted, was present at the UN Summit for the adoption of the Post-2015
Development Agenda in New York in September last year.
It was also said that the SDG 12 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aimed to
ensure sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns. It was necessary to make
fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume goods and services to meet this
goal, Hamid added.
The minister asserted that a sound management of natural resources was required to effectively
govern the environment, which could then bring about a paradigm shift from an environmentally
insensitive development to an inclusive, equitable and balanced economic growth, which was
driven by sound natural resource management, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and
resource efficiency.
He added that Pakistan needed to adopt “Green Growth” concept to achieve SCP Goals, which
involved the implementation of policies that promote climate-resilient, environmentally-
sustainable economic progress and foster low-carbon, socially inclusive development at the same
time. The conversion to a “Green Economy” also required major economy-wide structural and
technological changes, comprising the ‘greening’ of key sectors, such as energy, urban
infrastructure, transportation, industry and agriculture, `greening’ of investments, creation of
`green’ jobs, and facilitation of `green’ trade, he elaborated.
“Our plan to address SCP in Pakistan consists of, engaging all concerned from the federal and
provincial government, ministries divisions and departments and other stakeholders for
representation in the national multi-stakeholder technical committee,” he added. Hamid noted
that the meeting of the multi-stakeholder technical committee would be held in Islamabad where
all provincial headquarters would discuss the national action plan priority components on
Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and draft National Sustainable Development
Strategy (NSDG).
The minister further apprised that these documents would be circulated to all federal and
provincial government agencies and other concerned institutions for their comments.
The draft National Action Plan and NSDS will be discussed in the national multi-stakeholder technical
committee and will be revised accordingly. The revised NAP and NSDS would be presented for
approval at the high-level meeting. The NAP and NSDS will be circulated to all federal and
provincial governments, ministries divisions and departments and other stakeholders for their
implementation to facilitate the integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)
principles in the national and provincial policies and strategies as well as the implementation of
the SDGs.
He then asserted, “Pakistan needs large-scale investments in ‘Green Growth,’ including green
technologies, climate-resilient buildings and infrastructure development which utilises fewer
materials and energy and produce fewer emissions and waste. We are raising awareness and
building capacity for efficient utilisation of resources and SCP at national and provincial levels
and mobilising domestic financial and human resources for this purpose. The focus of our efforts
is not limited to just improving production, but also to support consumers to move towards
sustainable consumption choice.”
Hamid said that the Prime Minister’s Green Pakistan Program would be formally launched soon,
which was aimed at arresting the natural resource degradation and mitigating the climate change
impacts. It was also noted that the programme envisaged planting more than 100 million trees
over the next five years all over the country. Apart from reclaiming and developing forest areas,
the program also seeks to protect and manage wildlife resources, in line with the best
international practices, he asserted. He remarked that the initiative would ensure far-reaching
reforms in the forestry and wildlife sectors and make a significant contribution to the ecology,
biodiversity, food security and economic growth.