ISLAMABAD : A two-day national consultation on green economy has proposed a set of recommendations to the Government of Pakistan ahead of the United Nations global summit on sustainable development (Rio+ 20) conference, in Brazil next month.
The consultation, jointly organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), One UN Joint Programme on Environment, Ministry of Climate Change, Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS), Lead Pakistan and ActionAid-Pakistan, brought together all the stakeholders and gave them an opportunity to review measures taken by GOP so far and identify areas of concern that need to be dealt with through policy and legislative interventions.
The consultation also sought to develop a consensus on broad guidelines for the official Pakistani delegation to Rio+20 to ensure that Pakistan participates in the summit as a responsible member of the world community. The UN s summit is the largest platform on sustainable development that will bring together more than 130 Heads of State and government.
The Pakistani delegation will be led by Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani. The summit will also host thousands of non-official delegates from across the globe as well as world media. It will review the process begun at Rio 20 years ago and make a resolution for the sustainable future of the planet.
The national consultation led to fruitful exchange of views and the delegates produced two sets of recommendations, one for national decision-makers and the other for the international community. The resolution is the outcome of draft recommendations carefully reviewed and provisionally approved during the consultation. The final resolution incorporates the suggestions of all stakeholders.
The resolution in its national-level recommendations section urges that green economy should bind together the three pillars of sustainable development, i.e., social equity, economic prosperity, and environmental conservation. It seeks to align national priorities on the principles of economic prosperity, decent livelihoods, gender mainstreaming, and population reduction. It also urges the industrial and business community to agree on a coherent agenda on sustainability challenges and initiate the process for drafting a plan of action on green economy in Pakistan.
The resolution asks the federal and provincial governments to support sustainable development and green economy through a strategic approach, including implementation of National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS); effective system of devolution and the establishment of a National Fund on Climate Change and Green Development . It also urges the State Bank of Pakistan to evolve rules and regulations for incentivizing green investment and loans through commercial banks.
The resolution calls upon the GOP to develop a research and development roadmap for green economy and asks the research institutes to integrate three dimensions of green economy into their work and establish dedicated research centres in relevant areas of the green economy, including transport, energy, urban development, monsoon analysis, and food security. It demands that a level playing field be provided to renewable energy sector besides a clear and transparent policy framework including the feed-in-tariff approach for the private sector. It also stresses the use of cleaner technology for conventional energy sources and promoting energy efficiency in power generation and distribution, transport, buildings, and industry.
The resolution recommends a shift towards sustainable agricultural practices, including integrated water management, strengthening of agricultural research and extension mechanisms and enabling access to natural resources by small and landless farmers to ensure food security. Another area of concern identified by the resolution relates to health and food quality, including consumer protection in the food security process adding that the bulk of the poor live in the rural areas and it is necessary to ensure sustainable rural development for poverty reduction in Pakistan.
The resolution maintains that Pakistan is the most urbanized country in South Asia and the challenges of effective management of cities require sustainable urban development including sustainable urban design, land-use management, vertical development to limit urban sprawl, creation of second tier cities, definition of city limits, sustainable transport systems based on public transport instead of proliferation of private transport, sustainable waste management, energy-efficient building design, and good governance. This, according to the resolution, requires allocating adequate funds to support Metropolitan and City governments in undertaking sustainable urban development.
The recommendations also discuss poor implementation of past decisions and policies and stress that the pursuit of green economy requires patronage and support from the highest levels of the political leadership of the country in order to establish suitable mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of policies and governmental functioning. It is fundamentally important that the pursuit of sustainable development and green economy are based on the principles of transparency.
Recommendations with regard to international community in global context, underscore the position taken by Pakistan at international forums and reflect issues, concerns, and priorities recommended in the national-level section. Global community must ensure that roadmap towards green economy is based on national priorities and capacities of all countries, international support is available to all countries, the resolution adds.
The resolution asks the international community to ensure that governments and states take the lead on the transition process to green economy. Any attempts to adopt market- based instruments should be made on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and especially supplemented by policies to protect poor and vulnerable groups. It recommends review of intellectual property rights to support the quest of developing countries for sustainable development and poverty eradication. The resolution also demands that developed countries implement past agreements on sustainable development including honouring the commitments to provide financial and technical support to build the capacities of developing countries.
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