Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, through its Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE) for South Asia project, jointly organized a national consultative workshop with the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PAK-EPA) and Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives (MoPDSI) to strengthen environmental governance.
The workshop brought together government and department officials, as well as World Bank representatives, to stir dialogue on overhauling the ecological governance structure, and identify challenges in coping with future risks through capacity-building.
Dr. Hamid Jalil, Member Food Security and Climate Change, MoPDSI, gave the opening remarks and welcomed all participants.
Ms. Farzana Atlaf Shah, Director-General of PAK-EPA, mentioned in her welcoming remarks that amidst increasing urbanization, environmental degradation, and scarce resources, the Agency was embracing many challenges in the implementation of environmental laws and regulations.
Ms. Shah further stated that the workshop would prove to be a significant effort in sensitizing various government and multilateral stakeholders to realize the importance of environmental impact assessment report approval and compliance with the law during mega development projects.
Mr. Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, Adviser on Climate Change to MoPDSI, highlighted the institutional gaps and challenges in compliance with environmental laws.
The CARE for South Asia project is supported by the World Bank and its overall objective is to contribute to an enabling environment for climate resilient policies and investments in agriculture, transport, water, and policy, planning and finance sectors in South Asia.