Islamabad, January 29, 2019 (PPI-OT): Chairperson Climate Change Caucus in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman has proposed to make Parliament plastic free by imposing ban on plastic made material. She was presiding over a meeting of the Caucus at the Parliament House on Tuesday to discuss implementation status of the Basel Convention and other key issues pertaining to Pakistan’s capacity to comply with it.
The Caucus called upon the ministry to put forward recommendations to curtail use of plastic and chart a way forward to phase out the excessive use of plastic. Members of the Caucus underline the need for a strong linkage between the federal and provincial governments to make joint efforts for discouraging excessive use of plastic.
The Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul informed the group that there is a proposal under consideration to impose more taxes on plastic, however, the Caucus proposed that the ministry should take steps for creation of awareness among the masses about the hazardous effects of reused plastic material. She said that Caucus is doing an important job and the ministry will extend all possible support to make concrete recommendations.
Senator Sherry Rehman said that Climate Change is an issue which has put Pakistan and the region at risk and that it is high time to take tangible steps to make all inclusive comprehensive policies on mitigating climate stress. The meeting pointed out that recycling of plastic is an important issue which requires political will and policy interventions. The ministry informed the CAUCUS that there is no single plastic recycling plant, however, the government is working with industry to establish such a plant.
The meeting was attended by Leader of the House in the Senate Senator Shibli Faraz besides senators Ayesha Raza Farooq, Faisal Javed, Muhammad Akram, Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar, Nuzhat Sadiq, Sajjad Hussain Turi, Sassui Palijo and Sitara Ayaz besides MOS Zartaj Gul and Senior officers of the Ministry.
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H.No.7, Cat-II, G-8/2,
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