Pakistan has reaffirmed its commitment to global efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change as the U.N. General Assembly wrapped up a three-day debate on the phenomenon. “Climate change is causing irrevocable damage to Pakistan, with tremendous social, environment and economic impacts,” Pakistan's acting Permanent UN Representative Farukh Amil told a large number of participants, according to a message received in Islamabad. “Even the glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world. It is feared that many of these glaciers may disappear by 2035 or perhaps sooner if earth keeps warming at the current rate,” he said. “This will have a serious adverse impact on our agriculture productivity as well as on forest resources and natural ecosystems.” The event entitled “Addressing Climate Change: The United Nations and the World at Work” was held at UN Headquarters in New York and included addresses by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; panels featuring media, government and business leaders; and plenary meetings featuring 115 delegates. Amil said the Bali action plan promoted an integrated and coordinated approach to address climate change in a manner that enhanced and ensured the sustainable development and sustained economic growth of developing countries. Despite low greenhouse gas emissions, he said, Pakistan was experiencing irrevocable damage due to climate change, including to its forest resources and natural ecosystems. Amil said South Asia, in general, was a region severely affected by climate change and, as such, Pakistan had committed itself to a series of national measures for the improvement and protection of the environment, such as the establishment of a global change impact studies centre, a clean development mechanism cell and a mega-forestry project for carbon sequestration.
