ISLAMABAD:In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), the German Cooperation on Wednesday launched a major initiative for building Pakistan’s climate resilience and adaptation efforts under the ‘Strengthening Climate Adaptation and Resilience (SAR) project in Pakistan’, said officials of the climate change ministry and German government.
The SAR project primarily aims to further enhance the Pakistan’s coping ability to deal with adverse impact of climate change, particularly those faced by the vulnerable communities and sectors such as health, agriculture, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
The launch ceremony, held here on Wednesday, brought together representatives from various government agencies, non-governmental organizations, civil society, and the private sector to emphasize the importance of climate change adaptation and resilience-building.
Participants discussed the critical role of climate adaptation and resilience in alleviation of the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure. The speakers emphasized that the project’s success depends on collaboration and partnerships between various stakeholders, including the government, civil society, and private sector.
The Strengthening Climate Adaptation and Resilience (SAR) Project in Pakistan prioritizes gender-inclusive and socially inclusive approaches to ensure that the project’s benefits are equitably distributed among different communities, including women, youth, and other marginalized groups.
Addressing the launching ceremony, Additional Secretary at the climate change ministry, Syed Mujtaba Hussain, appreciated the support extended by the German government for boosting Pakistan’s efforts for enhanced climate resilience against climate risks.
He highlighted that the collaboration between two countries under SAR project would help bring together all stakeholders from the federal and provincial levels to work together for achieving goal of climate resilience through various climate change adaptation measures in different socio-economic sectors.
However, the senior climate change ministry official urged all stakeholders to ensure the SAR project meets success and underlined the unprecedented importance of the project towards achieving sustainable development goals in Pakistan.
“I strongly believe that the SAR project will support us in identifying Pakistan’s climate change vulnerability and enable us to address the impacts of climate change. SAR will also support us to take on board the insurance industry through the Global Risk Modelling Alliance (GRMA),” said Syed Mujtaba Hussain.
“The launching of the German government-supported Strengthening Climate Adaptation and Resilience (SAR) Project in Pakistan undoubtedly marks an important milestone in the country’s efforts underway for tackling the climate change challenges,” said Muhammad Saleem, Head Media Advocacy and climate change communication section of the climate change ministry.
He highlighted that with the unflinching support of its partners, Pakistan was already taking a bold step towards building climate resilience and adapting to the adverse socio-economic fallouts of climate change, which, he hoped, would contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future for all.
“Pakistan’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) outline a number of priority areas, such as strengthening early warning systems for extreme weather events, developing climate-resilient infrastructure, and improving water management and irrigation practices. Germany will support these strategic priorities towards achievement of Pakistan’s NDCs through the SAR project, said.” Dr Sebastian Paust, Head of Development Cooperation, German Embassy, Pakistan.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.