Billion Tree Tsunami helped climate situation in Pakistan, PM told

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan convened on Monday a session of the Prime Minister’s Committee on Climate Change to review the latest inventory reserves of Green House Gases (GHG) in Pakistan and progress made on Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, ARY News reported.

 The session was told that shift towards climate friendly Pakistan has been made possible due to increased forestation following the Billion Tree Tsunami (BTT) project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the ongoing Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme across the country.

 PM’s special assistant on climate change Malik Amin Aslam informed the meeting that deforestation rate has been reduced from 12000 hectares per year to 8000 ha/y during 2012-2016 period and will further fall with other BTTs success.

 To join the session were foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, planning minister Asad Umar, power minister Omar Ayub Khan, water resources minister Faisal Vawda, chief ministers of Punjab, KP, and Balochistan, among other senior officials.

Pakistan is contributing less than 1% in global emission, the meeting discussed adding that the overall ranking of the country vis-à-vis total emissions has advanced from 135 in 2015 to 133 in 2018 on Per Capita ranking.

Highlighting other successes, the environment SAPM informed the meeting that Pakistan has increased its mangrove cover by 300% during 1990-2020 which is a strong carbon sequestering tool. It is the largest mangrove cover increase in the world.

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 The meeting was informed that the country is ranked as 8th in terms of Climate Vulnerability Ranking and is faced with threats of rain variability, urban flooding, increased temperature and formation of glacial lakes.

PM Khan directed the committee to actively exploit the possibility of net zero emissions for Pakistan which is likely to be made possible with enhancement of carbon sequestration potential

The PM underscored the need for putting in place Early Warning System to mitigate impacts of erratic climate changes acorss the country so the ensuing damages can be avoided. 

He also stressed upon the need for water treatment plants to purify contaminated surface water of the rivers.