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ISLAMABAD - Climate change has become the top priority of developed countries as they have shifted focus to overcome related issues, however, the federal government has failed to implement the first-ever National Climate Change Policy 2012, The Nation has learnt.

The federal government held several meetings with the federating units during the past couple of years to implement the policy across the country but it has failed to convince them in this regard.

The sources said that it was decided in the meetings that all provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan governments would constitute provincial climate change policy implementation committees headed by additional chief secretaries and report to the federal government on the implementation of the policy.

According to the sources, all provincial governments had shown readiness to cooperate with the federal Ministry of Climate Change, however, the latter allegedly never took their recommendations seriously at any level. They said that during the last two-and-a-half years, the provincial governments had sent their project proposals but the Federal Ministry of Climate Change swept them under the carpet.

The sources said that due to the alleged non-serious attitude of the federal government, all the provinces have prepared their own provincial climate change policies and are following them. They said that the federal government always rejected the suggestions regarding the climate change issues at the national level. According to the sources, Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan barely spares some time for his ministry as he has not called a single meeting to address the issue since his re-assuming the charge of the ministry.

The National Climate Change Policy 2012 aims to address issues such as water, agriculture, forestry, coastal areas, biodiversity and the vulnerable ecosystem.

Talking to The Nation, a senior official at the Ministry of Climate Change said that the climate change policy could not be implemented due to the lack of political will. He said that the federal government had allocated the lowest budget for the ministry in the fiscal year 2017-2018. He said that the provincial governments were taking steps to address the climate issues but the federal ministry was avoiding arranging capacity-building sessions for their representatives and highlighting their efforts at international forums.

He said that all provinces had agreed to work with the federal government on the implantation of policy but the federal government has also failed to get funds for climate change projects from international donors.

He also criticised the prime minister’s Green Pakistan Programme and said the climate ministry has so far failed to introduce a mechanism to monitor planted trees in the federal capital and provinces.