Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies
Ministry of Science and Technology
Pakistan Second
National Communication on Climate Change under UNFCCC
Development and
Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies
Brief for Relevant Departments
1. Background
Global climate change, which has profound
impacts on human survival and development, poses a major challenge to all
nations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
provides that ‘all Parties to the
Convention should, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common
but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, safeguard the
climate system for the present and future generations of mankind; and that the
developed countries should take the lead in addressing climate change and &
adverse impacts’.
In accordance with the provision of UNFCCC,
each Party has an obligation to submit its National Communication, including
the National Greenhouse Inventory, measures taken and to be taken for the
implementation of the Convention, as well as other information that the Party
considers relevant. Developing country Parties are required to submit their
first NC within three years of entering the Convention, and every four years
thereafter.
2. Introduction
Pakistan submitted its Initial National
Communication on Climate Change in the year 2003. The process of formulation of
Pakistan’s Second National Communication on Climate Change was initiated in
year 2016. The Project is supporting in preparation of SNC (by June, 2018),
which would include:
a)
The National inventory of the
greenhouse gases utilizing the 1996 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) Guidelines and 2000 Good Practice Guidance;
b)
Measures to address climate
change mitigation;
c)
Vulnerability and adaptation
(V&A) assessments of the impacts of climate change on water resources and
glaciers, agriculture and livestock, energy, health, forestry and rangeland,
biodiversity, and coastal areas and other fragile ecosystems, as well as
vulnerable livelihoods;
d)
Efforts to further integrate
climate change into development planning and the work programs of national
institutions;
e)
Identification
of constraints, gaps and related financial, technical and capacity needs for
development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies.
f)
Compilation and production of
the Second National Communications of Pakistan for submission to the Conference
of the Parties.
The preparation of the SNC is expected to
enhance general awareness and knowledge on climate change-related issues in
Pakistan. It is seeking to assist in the process of national planning and
policy formulation, especially as it relates to mainstreaming vulnerability,
and adaptation and mitigation measures within the work programme of the various
stakeholder agencies. In addition, it will contribute to the social and
economic development of the country by reducing vulnerability associated with
climate change, or proposing options to do so in the sectors mentioned above.
3.
Implementation
Arrangements of Project
Ministry of Climate Change is the Implementing
Partner for SNC Project. The Project is being implemented as per agreed Project
Document between Ministry of Climate Change and United Nations Environment
Programme. Based on available Guidelines of UNFCCC for Second National
Communication, 7 Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) have been formed to work on
specific outputs of the SNC Project. Each TWG is headed by a ‘Team Lead’, which
is from a reputable national institution having specific mandate and expertise
relevant to Output. The Composition of TWG has already been approved by
Project’s National Steering Committee.
MoSTwas
declared as the Lead Institution for the chapter on the “Development and
Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies”. MoST
has appointedPCRET on its behalf as the ‘Team Lead’
for Thematic Working Groups (TWG) on ‘Development
and Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies’ under SNC Project. This role of PCRET has already been
approved by The Project’s National Steering Committee in year-2016.
4.
Development
and Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies
Most
of the world’s environmental problems are due to the lack of understanding of
the impact of human activity upon the environment. New management methods and
decision support tools must therefore be developed and applied. In this
scenario, the importance of the effective dissemination and use of
environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) is increasing as climate change is a
hot issue and the environment related technologies play an integral role in
tackling climate change.
Environmentally Sound
Technologies (ESTs) are technologies that have the potential for significantly
improved environmental performance relative to other technologies. ESTs protect
the environment, are less polluting, use resources in a sustainable manner,
recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle all residual wastes in a
more environmentally acceptable way than the technologies for which they are
substitutes. ESTs are not just individual technologies. They can also be
defined as total systems that include know-how, goods, services, and equipment,
as well as organizational and managerial procedures
5.
Role
of PCRET in Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs)
The
mandate of PCRET is “Committed to Research, Develop, Promote and
Disseminate to create Renewable Energy Culture”. As
renewable energy covers major portion of environment friendly technologies in
the power sector, hence PCRET has been assigned the task of writing a chapter
of SNC namely “Development and transfer of ESTs.