ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister Malik Amin Aslam said that Pakistan is committed to the global efforts being taken for ecological restoration through nature-based solutions.
All types of ecosystems can be restored including forests, farmlands, cities, wetlands and oceans and, the restoration initiatives can be launched by almost anyone from governments and development agencies to businesses, communities and individuals. For, the drivers of degradation are myriad and varied, which can bear an impact at different scales, said PM’s aide while addressing the press conference held here at a local hotel on Monday.
While addressing the media Malik Amin Aslam also announced hosting of the United Nations’ World Environment Day2021, which is marked every year on June 5. “Restoring ecosystems help not only protect but also improve the livelihoods of people, who are dependent on them. It also helps regulate disease and lessen the risk of natural disasters. Such restoration can also help us achieve all of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” Aslam remarked.
He highlighted that Pakistan too is long faced with soaring levels of environmental degradation like any other country, which costs losses to the national economy to the tune of billions of rupees annually. But, various initiatives of worth billions of rupees have been taken by the incumbent government for ecosystem restoration through nature-based salutations under the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for Clean Green Pakistan, Malik Amin added.
He pointed out that the countries around the world, mainly developing countries, are best with a plethora of the common human-caused environmental issues including, among others, deforestation of natural resources, desertification, soil erosion, sea level-rise, raging forest fires, depleting fresh water resources and melting glaciers.
However, these issues can be overcome through ecosystem restoration efforts through afforestation activities, rainwater harvesting and ground water recharge and stabilization of soil erosion, smart agriculture initiatives, adoption of renewable energy technologies, activities, the PM’s aide Malik Amin stressed.
Explaining about the very sprit of the ecosystem restoration system, he said that ecosystem restoration means supporting the recovery of natural ecosystems that have been degraded or eroded, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact.
“Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, provide for greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, larger stores of greenhouse gases. Thriving of the wildlife in natural environments and improvement in public health, poverty reduction and enhanced food security,” he explained.
Restoration happens in many ways, Malik Amin Aslam said, elaborating that for instance through actively planting or by eradicating pressures so that nature can recover on its own.
He said that between now and 2030, world community together aims to restore 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems through nature-based initiatives including the country’s the largest afforestation initiatives of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme and Protected Areas Initiative.
Such ecosystem restoration efforts alone could generate US $9 trillion in ecosystem services and eliminate 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, he said while quoting UN Environment Programme’s estimates. The economic benefits of such interventions exceed ten times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration, Malik Amin added.
He told the media that the world is going through unprecedented challenges. “For the first time in human history, the repercussions of human-caused activities are being felt on the environment and human societies. For instance, plastic pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and resource exploitation are some of the environmental challenges facing the world today. As a result, we are witnessing climate change and environmental deterioration like never before,” the PM’s aide said.
The World Environment Day becomes increasingly important in such state of affairs. Celebrated since the last 40 years, this campaign is meant to raise awareness about environmental issues. Such awareness campaigns are the need of the hour. Each year, the World Environment Day centres on a particular theme. This year, the theme is ‘Ecosystem Restoration’, he said.
Responding the award of prestige to Pakistan by the global community to lead the World Environment Day2021 celebration on June 5, Aslam said, “We as a government are pleased to host this highly prestigious and unprecedented event this year, hoping hope that the world will continue to come together and work towards a sustainable future for all through adoption of nature-based solutions for ecosystem restoration goals.”
“The Ministry of Climate Change is all-prepared to organize this event in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme, saying that this collaboration mirrors the incumbent government’s strong commitment towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals by adopting ecosystem restoration-centric policies and programmes in harmony with nature.
Addressing the joint press conference Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi, UN Environment Programmer’s Executive Director Inger Andersen, said the in view of the various ecosystem restoration initiatives taken by the Prime Minister Imran Khan, world community is confident of the country’s ability to lead this time the global ecosystem restoration campaign.
“While Pakistan may not be a major contributor to climate change-causing carbon emissions, the country is taking active steps towards sustainable development and nature-based ecosystem restoration,” she said. The UNEP executive director Inger Andersen said further that the Clean Green Pakistan (CGP) programme launched by the Prime Minister in 2018 has earned the global recognition and many countries are looking into possibilities of replicating the programme for achieving their own environmental sustainability.
The enthusiastic participation by local governments and overwhelming support from stakeholders’ points towards a strong national will to tackle environmental challenges is of particular inspiration for the global community, she told the media.
The ‘Ten Billion Tree Tsunami’ programme is another inspiration through which the country is aiming to fight desertification and water resource depletion in this water scarce country and achieve pro-poor and equitable development for all, executive director Inger Andersen said.
She, however, pledged to support Pakistan’s all programmes and projects, which are being taken under the Prime Minister Iman Khan’s vision for Clean Green Pakistan, and play her part to scale up the clean green initiatives in other countries that are wrestling with the soaring levels of environmental degradation.