Speakers on Wednesday said Pakistan had excellent legislation and policy frameworks in terms of environment-friendly development and industrialization, but was lagging behind to implement sustainable development goals (SDGs) due to lack of capacity and commitment.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 7 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2022 ) :Speakers on Wednesday said Pakistan had excellent legislation and policy frameworks in terms of environment-friendly development and industrialization, but was lagging behind to implement sustainable development goals (SDGs) due to lack of capacity and commitment.
The speakers made these remarks while addressing a discussion session on 'Review of Selected Goals for HLPF 2023 in South Asia' on the 3rd day of Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Former Convenor of Parliamentary Task-force on SDGs Riaz Fatyana said on the occasion that there was a huge funding gap in effective city management. So, the capacity of the city governments needed to improve for making the cities livable places.
He was of the view that rising air pollution and other forms of urban pollution had become threatening challenges which required extensive mass awareness campaigns.
The Economic Advisor for Ministry of Finance Dr Imtiaz Ahmed earlier highlighted the importance of knowledge sharing to address the developmental and environment-related issues in the region.
He called upon the regional countries to enhance mutual cooperation to address challenges like effective town planning, water scarcity, unavailability of clean water, lack of health and education infrastructure.
The experts highlighted that although South Asian countries were somehow making progress to achieve SDGs, especially which were related to provision of basic services to the population, inclusive development, sustainable urbanization and responsible industrialization.
They highlighted the importance of enhancing regional cooperation amongst the South Asia countries, especially to help each other in achieving SDGs for sustainable and inclusive development.
