PM Shehbaz directs to form consultation committee on carbon credits policy

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the formation of a committee for consultation with the provinces for policy-making on guiding principles for carbon credits.

The PM issued directives while chairing a third meeting of the Pakistan Council for Climate Change yesterday.

During the meeting, the prime minister directed federal and provincial governments to work together to make policies regarding climate change.

“Our challenges regarding climate change are increasing with every passing day,” he said, adding without the consultation of provinces, there was no question of policy making of any kind on the issue.

The participants discussed in detail policy guidelines for foreign trading in carbon credits. He instructed that a policy draft should be presented in the next meeting of the Council after consultation with the provinces.

The chief ministers of the four provinces expressed their viewpoint regarding policy making and gave recommendations.

The prime minister directed that the provinces and other stakeholders should be taken into confidence regarding the important policy draft on climate change.

He said Pakistan was one of the countries badly suffered from the adverse effects of climate change. It was gravely affected by the rains in 2022 and the floods caused by them.

As a servant of Pakistan, PM Shehbaz Sharif said, he worked for the relief and rehabilitation of the flood affectees and fought the case of Pakistan all across the world regarding climate change.

He further said Ahsan Iqbal and Sherry Rehman and all the relevant institutions and ministries took important steps to take Pakistan out of that difficult time and to build infrastructure in the country regarding climate change.

Federal ministers including Ishaq Dar, Ahad Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb and Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, Coordinator of Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam, high level officers and experts from the public and private sectors attended the meeting.

The Azad Jammu & Kashmir prime minister and the chief ministers of provinces, including Gilgit Baltistan, attended the meeting through video link.