Voice of climate-by Naseem Sheikh

The Amazon rainforest is burning at a record rate since more than three weeks, the highest on record since 2013 and an 83% increase from last year. Earlier this month, Brazil declared a state of emergency over the rising number of fires in the region. So far this year, almost 73,000 fires in the country have been detected by Brazil's space research center, INPE. The Amazon is regarded as vital in the fight against global warming due to its ability to absorb carbon from the air. It’s often referred to as the “lungs of the Earth,” as more than 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen is produced there and is home to 10% of the world's known biodiversity. Brazil has the biggest share of the 670 million hectares of forest (60 per cent), which is home to more species than anywhere else on the planet. The region is home to 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals. Satellite images show fires in the Brazilian st...

Biarritz, southwestern France is hosting the 45th meeting of seven of the world's most advanced economies from August 24-26. The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal grouping of seven of the world’s unconventional economies, as well as the EU and European Commission. World’s advance economies include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States The Green Climate Fund is the largest international fund dedicated to helping developing countries take action on climate change. Green Climate Fund helps developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) releases and adjust to climate change. It was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, as part of the Convention’s financial mechanism. It aims to deliver equal amounts of funding to mitigation and adaptation, while being guided by the Convention’s principles and provisions.   It's a perilous part of t...

Pakistan on its righteous way to combat climate change – by- Naseem Sheikh This week (19August -20 August) around 100 ministers and more than 600 stake holders from developing countries will gather at the home of Green Climate Fund in Songdo, Republic of Korea, for Global Programming Conference. It's time to realize climate ambitions for a low-emission future.   The latest IPCC report highlighted the importance of land use in the fight against Climate Change.  Only with proper climate change adaptation planning and budgeting can the most vulnerable sectors - such as agriculture - expect systematic, suitable, and long-term support by both local institutions and donors. On Monday, the Green Climate Fund announced that it had committed $2.2billion in expenditures whereas it has $40bn worth of projects marked for execution. Countries susceptible to rising sea levels, droughts and flooding are particularly anxious about climate finance drying up as the US withdraws it...

Afforestation is one of the best buffers in terms of negative impacts of climate change in the world. Prime Minister, Imran Khan, appeals to all Pakistanis, especially school children that everyone should plant two trees on 18th August to celebrate "Plant4Pakistan day" across Pakistan. more than 22 million plants will be planted across Pakistan today. According to the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) 2017 survey, only 5.7% of Pakistan’s land was covered by forest. The report added that Pakistan lost up to 43,000 hectares of forest every year from 2000 to 2010. This is the highest deforestation rate among Asian countries. The federal government has estimated a one per cent increase in forest area in the country from the Billion Tree Tsunami The forestation project would require a funding of Rs. 125 billion for the first phase and will provide green cover to around 0.8 million hectares of land. As per the proposal, around 4.5 billion saplings will be planted in the country du...