The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a draft of Pakistan’s first national climate change policy with officials of the environmental department of Punjab and other stakeholders. One of the conclusions was that infrastructure reconstruction requires $10 billion in public sector investment and equal investment by the private sector.
The Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC) and Pakistan’s Meteorological Department have predicted more floods in the coming years as average temperature over the country is expected to increase in the range of 1.3-1.5 degrees Celsius by 2020. At the meeting, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that in Pakistan, and especially in the Indus Basin, the frequency, severity and aerial coverage of extreme events of water availability and non-availability (floods and droughts) would occur.
The goal of the national climate change policy is to ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in the economically important and vulnerable sectors of the economy; to integrate climate change policy with other interrelated national policies; place equal emphasis on both mitigation and adaptation; and minimise the risks to the population and national economy arising from expected increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
The workshop received a lot of media attention, here are some links:
PakFloodAid
Coping with Climate Change
The Daily Times