'Pakistan must not follow high-emitting developed world'.

ISLAMABAD -- Noting that the melting of glaciers in the Himalayan region affects the water needs of the billions that live in South Asia, a noted climate scientist has urged Pakistan to decarbonise and avoid following the footsteps of the high-emitters in the developed world.

Prof Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, a former vice chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Belgium's pick to lead the Geneva-based panel this year, was in Pakistan last week to gather support for the election, scheduled to be held during a special IPCC session to be held in Nairobi in July this year.

The IPCC is a scientific body created by two United Nations specialised agencies: UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) more than thirty years ago with a mandate to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts and solutions.

After a meeting with Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, he told Dawn the interaction proved very productive. 'She was very positive about my candidacy and said that the decision will be taken after consulting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,' he said.

Belgium's pick to lead UN's IPCC panel holds meetings in Islamabad

Prof van Ypersele, who has to his credit forty years of experience in climate science and diplomacy, told Dawn that Pakistan was contributing very little to global emissions, but its vulnerability is very high, as made evident by the last year's heat wave in spring and floods in the monsoon season.

He said that Pakistan and other developing countries should avoid following the developed countries. If these countries follow the same carbon-intensive path that developed countries have followed, in a few decades these countries will also be high emitters, he cautioned.

'We have to decarbonise as much as possible, and also need to take into account the need for energy access to everyone,' he said.

He also noted that the vulnerability of the South Asian region was quite high. Being a tropical region where the level of temperature is relatively high, therefore the impacts are also larger.

The melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, he said, is a big problem for all the countries which depend on the existence of those glaciers for their water resources. If those glaciers melt quickly some of the rivers will have flooding, especially if it is combined with extreme...