Islamabad: Pakistan was elected to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) this week, a first for a 220-million strong nation that is often listed among top 10 countries in the world affected by climate change.
The UNEA, formed in 2012, is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on issues related to the environment.
Pakistan, last year’s host of the United Nations’ annual World Environment Day on June 5, is ranked at number 8 on the list of countries worldwide that are affected the most by climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021, having been regularly hit by devastating floods in recent years, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and destroying swathes of agricultural land.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam, was elected as one of eight vice presidents of the UN Environment Assembly.
“Honored to be elected by #UNEA to represent #Pakistan and serve as #VicePresident and member of 8-member Ministerial #Bureau — the governance body of @UNEP,” Aslam said on Twitter.
Aslam was elected to the post during the fifth session of the UNEA, which took place online from February 28 to March 2, 2022.
The UNEA is led by the ministerial bureau, which comprises a president, eight vice presidents and a rapporteur. The UNEA bureau assists the president in the general conduct of the business of the assembly. All members of the bureau, the president, vice presidents and the rapporteur, hold office for two years.
Under prime minister Imran Khan’s government, Pakistan has undertaken a number of restoration projects, including a 10 billion tree-planting drive to restore forest and wildlife resources in the country.
Aside from ecological restoration projects, Pakistan has also recently become active on the global green finance market, looking to access finance for environmentally friendly projects and decrease its reliance on fossil fuels.
Pakistan has said the World Bank estimated the country’s new plantation projects would be worth $500 million, and that the valuation could go up to $2.5 billion if carbon pricing estimates went up.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report released last year that over the last five years Pakistan had experienced an environmental turnaround after years of decline in its natural capital, but added that more needed to be done.