Islamabad, September 05, 2018 (PPI-OT): Chairperson of Climate Change Caucus Senator Sherry Rehman has said that climate change has a strong security and economic dimension to it and it is national security challenge for the country. She observed that the matter of climate change is never taken as an agenda needing urgent action. She made these remarks in a meeting with a delegation of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) comprising of Mr. Amanullah Khan, Mr. Karim Gabol, Mr. Asif Shah and Mr. Ahsan Gillani here at the Parliament House on Wednesday.
Chairperson of the caucus briefed the UNDP team about the future role and purpose of the caucus and sought support by the UNDP in formulating Terms of Reference of the Caucus and designing a calendar for the working of the caucus throughout the year, capacity building of the caucus through capacity building of Parliamentarians, identifying the institutional gaps between climate change legislation and its implementation. The chairperson emphasised that the goal of the caucus is not to do the same type of coordination with the ministry as the standing committees are doing but to enhance climate literacy and connecting with the national and international development sector to work towards a better environment that knows the drastic effects of climate change and how to counter them.
The Caucus will in future work closely with the National Assembly as well as the provincial legislatures to play the influential role of providing a forum to bridge the gap between federal and provincial level. Both sides agreed that the idea of the caucus is to be able to raise the level of climatic awareness and bring the executive into action. UNDP delegation appreciated the role of Senate as an important entity in debating and legislating upon the issue of climate change.
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