PAKISTAN 40TH ANNIVERSARY UNITED NATIONS UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME. (2012-12)

40th Anniversary of United Nations Environment Programme Commemorative Postage Stamps June 5, 2012:- Environmental issues in Pakistan threaten the population’s health and have been distributing the balance between economic development and environmental protection. As a great problem for the nature and nation of Pakistan and As Pakistan is a large importer of both exhaustible and renewable natural resources and a large consumer of fossil fuels, the Ministry of Environment of Government of Pakistan takes responsibility to conserve and protect the environment.

Conservation Efforts:- The government has expressed concern about environment threats to economic growth and social development and since the early 1990s, has addressed environmental concerns with new legislation and institutions such as a Pakistan Environment Protection Council. Yet, foreign lenders provide most environmental protection funds, and only 0.04 percent of the government’s development budget goes to environmental protection. Thus, the government’s ability to enforce environmental regulations is limited, and private industries often lack funds to meet environmental standards established by international trade organizations.

National Conservation Strategy (NCS):- The National Conservation strategy has three explicit objectives: (i) Conservation of natural resources, (ii) Promotion of sustainable development, (iii) Improvement of efficiency in the use and management of resources. It sees itself as a “call for action” addressed to central and provincial governments, businesses, and Non-governmental organization (NGOs), local communities, and individuals.

The National Conversation Strategy recommended fourteen programme areas for priority implementation: maintaining soils in croplands, increasing efficiency of irrigation, protecting watersheds, supporting forestry and plantations, restoring rangelands and improving livestock, protecting water bodies and sustaining fisheries, conserving biodiversity, increasing energy efficiency, developing and deploying renewable resources, preventing or decreasing pollution, managing urban wastes, supporting institutions to manage common resources, integrating population and environmental programs, and preserving the cultural heritage. Special attention has been paid to the potential roles of environmental NGO’s, women’s organizations, and international NGO’s in working with the government in its conservation efforts.

The average temperature in Pakistan had risen by 0.2 degrees in only 2 years, This is a dramatic change and puts emphasis on Climate Change Campaigns. In the 1980s World Wildlife Fund (WWF), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and  International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)-World Conservation Union collaborated to formulate the World Conservation Strategy to ‘save the world’. After IUCN started its work in Pakistan. The government and IUCN worked to formulate the National Conservation Strategy for Pakistan over a three-year period. The NCS is a plan to integrate environmental concerns into Pakistan’s economy. The implementation of the strategy started with the formation of institutions such as the Environmental Section in the Federal Planning and Development Division and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD):- Pakistan ratified this convention in 1992 with 161 nations at the Earth Summit at Rio. Consequently, Pakistan became a contributor and beneficiary to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) set up under the convention. It is also taking initiatives in community level projects to conserve biodiversity.

Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project:- The project has the capacity to produce 1,450 mw of electricity. With this project, the Water and Power Department for the first time took efforts to study the environment and to include environmental considerations.

UN Convention on Combating Destrification (CCD):- This is an international treaty for collaborative action against damage and poverty in drylands. Pakistan signed this in 1997 and is in the process of developing its National Action Plan to fight desertification, which afflicts about 45 million hectares. A local NGO, Society for Conservation and Protection of Environment (SCOPE) is active in this area.

Shehla Zia Case:- This was a case filed against WAPDA to halt the construction of a grid station near a residential area. The judgment given was in favour of the citizens and became a landmark decision in the field of environmental law in the country. This case set the precedent for subsequent environmental cases.

Maintaining Biodiversity With Rural Community Development:- IUCN – Pakistan and the Government of NWFP’s Wildlife Department jointly implement this project. Rural communities are active partners in this project and over 40 villages were involved in the first two years.

Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy (SPCS):- In 1996, the Government of NWFP approached IUCN to formulate and implement the SPCS. This was the principal plan to implement the National Conservation Strategy. The strategy has spurred the governments of Baluchistan and the Northern Areas to emulate this move.

Pakistan Environmental Protection Bill 1997 (PEPA):- PEPA supplements the 1983 Environmental Protection Ordinance with more functions for the Environmental Protection Agencies, and new laws dealing with pollution. It also rationalizes the Environmental Protection Council.

Year 2012 is the United Nations Environment Programmes’ (UNEP) 40th Anniversary. This marks four decades of service and achievements, which have assisted in catalyzing and evolving the environment as an integrated aspect of sustainable development vital for the social progress of now 7 billion people.

This is reflects in the logo slogan-“Serving People and the Planet”. The key to this message is that UNEP has not only been concerned with the conservation and more intelligent management of the planet but, just as important, serving its inhabitants.

On 40th Anniversary of United Nations Environment Programme, Pakistan Post is issuing a set of four Commemorative Postage Stamps each denomination of Rs.8/- on June 5, 2012.