The News
Published Date: Sep 15, 2011
RIO+20 SUMMIT TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON GREEN ECONOMY
Former Ambassador (r) Shafqat Kakakhel, said that the objective of the consultation was to secure renewed political commitment towards sustainable development based on the progress in implementation of previous summits on sustainable development and the new and old emerging challenges.
Kakakhel was speaking at the concluding day of two-day National Consultation jointly organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in preparation for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)/Rio+20 to be held in June next.
Kakakhel observed that Rio+20 Summit will discuss and make recommendations on green economy and institutional framework for sustainable development at global, regional and national level. He said that the Rio +20 process is of global significance as the outcome from Rio will influence and direct the sustainable development agenda in the post-2015 period and provides an opportunity to bring inclusiveness for human-focused, low-emission, climate-resilient growth.
Dr Ishfaq Ahmad, Advisor on Climate Change and Development, Planning Commission, stressed that strengthening implementation capacity on the ground was critical and the government and multilateral agencies should play a pivotal role in this regard.
Toshihiro Tanaka, Co-Chair One UN Environment and Country Director, UNDP, highlighting the importance of Summit in the context of Pakistan said that move towards sustainable development is not a matter of choice but necessity for Pakistan. He said that rapid population increase calls for wise decisions on the use of available resources as more and more people are depending upon already depleting natural resources for their lives and livelihoods.
Dr Qasim Jan, head of Comstech, said that SDPI had contributed to the work of the Planning Commission s Task Force on Climate Change and the formulation of the National Environment Policy in recent years. It is represented on the Advisory Group on Climate Change and Development. He said that the substantive and logistic support extended by SDPI, in collaboration with the UNDP, is in line with the mandate and goals of SDPI. He hoped that SDPI will join the government and other key stakeholders in ensuring the effective implementation of the outcomes of the conference after the Rio Summit.
Dr Adil Najam, Vice Chancellor, Lahore University of Management Sciences, said that Rio is an opportunity to redefine sustainable development across the globe and in Pakistan. We need to bring sustainability and efficiency checks while greening our policies.
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