NEW YORK, Sep 26 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday urged the developed world, emitting most of the green house gases, to support the low-emission countries who had been bearing the brunt in form of environmental threats and looming consequent crises.
“Pakistan is contributing hardly anything to green house gases. Rich countries, which are really responsible (for emissions), should help countries like Pakistan and other countries… which are not trying to compensate for the damage done by these green house gas emissions,” the prime minister said addressing a high-level event on “Environmental Stewardship in Addressing Poverty to Achieve Sustainable Development for All” co-chaired by him and Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad on sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.
The prime minister told the gathering that the forest cover in Pakistan had been among the lowest; however, his party-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province planted 1.1 billion saplings during last five years against the target of one billion to fight the climate change.
He said impressed by the success of the idea, his government had targeted to plant 10 billion trees across the country which could face severe crisis in future as the glaciers contributing 80 percent of the country’s rivers were fast receding.
He said Pakistan was among the top 10 countries to face the effects of the climate change and if the glaciers continued to melt with the same pace, the future of the hundreds of millions people in the region would be in danger.
He said unfortunately, the seriousness on part of the developed countries to tackle the environmental challenges was lacking despite the fact that the phenomenon would affect both the rich as well as the poor nations.
The prime minister also apprised the audience of the tourism potential in Pakistan which was home to half of the world’s highest peaks.
He also lauded the leadership of Dr Mahathir Mohammad particularly his efforts to fight out the corruption from his country.
The Malaysian prime minister, in his address, highlighted his government’s efforts and achievements in the fields of environment and renewable energy.
He said Malaysia had been blessed with oil and gas reserves, besides the crude oil; however, his government was giving special focus on the renewable energy.
He said the production of renewable energy would be doubled by 2025 as the country was adhering to the international and environmental standards while coping with the energy needs.
