Malik Amin Aslam, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change, has been chosen as vice president of the UN Environment Assembly bureau as a representative of Pakistan on the global forum, during its week-long 5th session.
“It is, of course, a great achievement and honour for Pakistan for having been elected as a member of the UNEA body as vice president to lead the global efforts towards goals of making the world climate-resilient and environmentally-sustainable place through a global climate action,” PM’s aide quoted.
According to the official statement, this is the first time in history that Pakistan has been nominated to the global policy-making forum.
The ministerial bureau of UN Environment Assembly includes 10 members i.e. one president, eight vice presidents one rapporteur from among its members, with two members representing each region, who work in different international and regional mediums on the environment.
Moreover, the president, the vice-presidents and the rapporteur elect for two years. “They shall commence their terms of office at the closure of the session at which they are elected and remain in office until the closure of the next regular session.”
The primary mandate of the bureau is to “assist the president in the general conduct of the business of the UNEA”. Its recurring meetings help to guide the Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Programme’s governing bodies and stakeholders in the preparations for the future sitting of the UNEA.
Meanwhile, PM’s aide Malik Amin stated that Pakistan’s election to the UNEA bureau is a pure signal that the world community is grateful for the government’s globally-acclaimed green programmes, mainly the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme which is being applied as a major part of the efforts for global climate action for environmental perseverance.
Generally, the theme for UNEA-5 was “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” emphasizing the central role nature plays in our lives and in economic, social, and environmentally supportable development.
Illustrating the government’s green programmes, Malik Amin said that the government is making a move regarding a “clean and green” Pakistan through a well-organized and systematic climate change programme consisting of a number of on-the-ground major initiatives.
