PM chairs meeting of PM's committee on climate change.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of Prime Minister's Committee on Climate Change at Islamabad Monday.

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan, Minister for Water Resources Muhammad Faisal Vawda, Chief Ministers Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan, SAPM Malik Amin Aslam, Minister of State Zartaj Gul, SAPM Dr. Moeed Yousaf, and senior officials were present during the meeting.

The meeting reviewed the latest inventory reserves of Green House Gases (GHG) and progress made on Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme. It was informed that Pakistan's emission growth is 9% below Business as Usual baseline and also below the NDC (Nationally determined commitments). This climate friendly shift has been made possible due to increased forest cover as a result of successful Billion Tree Tsunami project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the ongoing Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme across the country. SAPM on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam informed the meeting that the deforestation rate has significantly been reduced from 12000 hectares/year to 8000 ha/y from 2012-2016 and will further fall with 10BTT success.

The meeting was informed that Pakistan was contributing less than 1% in global emission. The overall ranking of the country vis-a-vis total emissions ha shifted from 135 in 2015 to 133 in 2018 on Per Capita ranking.

Highlighting other successes, 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.

The meeting was informed that the country is ranked as 8th in terms of Climate Vulnerability Ranking and is faced with threats of rain...