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PR No. 320
PRESS RELEASE
Mutual Cooperation is the most logical response to trans-boundary water management issues….Afridi
Islamabad: March 28, 2010Federal Minister for Environment Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi has said that cooperation is the most logical response to trans-boundary water management issues. The need of the hour is to think in global terms to address cross border water scarcity issues caused by Climate Change. He expressed these views while addressing in regional workshop for journalists on “Sharing our Resources: A vision for addressing cross border water scarcity caused by climate change” organized by LEAD, Pakistan here today.
Journalists from India and Pakistan, representatives of partner organizations LEAD Pakistan, DFID, One UN Joint Program on Environment and Commonwealth Foundation and other high officials of Ministry of Environment participated in this workshop.
Environment Minister further said in his address that Water is at the centre of everything. From climate change to decreasing energy and food supplies to economic meltdowns, water remains at the heart of it all. It is a vicious cycle that warns of local water crisis going global if relevant links are not addressed and resolved. He told that Our planet’s fresh water reserves present a grim picture, especially for the developing nations. With the ever increasing demands of expanding human population, horrifying effects of climate change and irresponsible use of water; we are heading towards extremely testing times. He also told that the picture is bleaker for countries like Pakistan and India, where economy is based on agriculture. Minister added that As the planet is warming unnaturally, it will lead to heightened water scarcity, intensifying flooding, droughts and worsening of infectious diseases.
Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi mentioned here that Copenhagen Summit has drawn attention to the very serious impact of warming temperatures on the Himalayan glaciers. It has further been pointed out that the Himalayan glaciers melting will have a much more immediate and direct impact on human beings. Afridi added that there is already a widening gap between water supplies and water needs within this region, especially in South Asia. The International Water Management Institute has declared most of South Asia to already be facing water scarcity. As population expands, and economic growth further increases competition for water used in agriculture and industry, this situation will worsen, he told.
Federal Minister said that There is not much evidence of due attention being paid to awareness raising or focusing on the need to adopt climate change coping mechanisms. Conservation of water and land resources is vital. He emphasized that It is our common responsibility to put in place effective measures with the active participation of all stakeholders. Federal Minister said that Government of Pakistan has involved the media as an important stakeholder in the efforts of environmental preservation. Keeping in view the importance of media to raise awareness at different tiers of the society, the Ministry of Environment is supporting the linkages among the journalists working on environmental issues.
Afridi further highlighted that The Government of Pakistan is making concrete measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change. The New Forest policy is in the final stages. The Clean Drinking policy has been approved by the Federal Cabinet in the National Year of Environment 2009. He further said that consultative process with stakeholders has been made a regular feature. The cross-border mechanism and joint strategy would have to be evolved on basis of this consultation. Moreover, The Ministry of Environment organized regional conference on climate change in January last year involving representatives from the South Asian region where the Ministry of Environment suggested a task force of the regional countries to evolve a joint mechanism for adaptation and mitigation measures in wake of the threats posed by Climate Change.
He said this workshop for which we have gathered here is also part of our efforts to workout consultative and collective strategy for addressing the problems caused by the adverse impacts of Climate Change. He hoped that this regional workshop for journalists would help boost our efforts to think and act together on this common agenda of addressing cross border water scarcity caused by Climate Change.
Earlier CEO LEAD, Pakistan Mr. Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, former BBC Correspondent Mr. Alex Kirby, Editor of Indo-Asian News Servise (IANS) Mr. Joydeep Gupta and other experts also expressed there views during the workshop.----