Only Pakistani from South Asia included in UN climate body

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations 29th Global Climate Change Conference (COP29) Presidency has included a Pakistani in its international advisory comittee.

Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, the executive director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), is the only expert picked from South Asia to be notified as a member of the IAS, a high-level forum convening former heads of states, ex-ministers, artists, innovators, and experts of global prestige.

“The COP29 Presidency in the prevailing highly charged milieu due to the galloping impacts of global warming and climate change has come up with a comprehensive selection of a 21-member international advisory committee also called COP-29 IAC to ensure that voices and perceptions of all concerned are considered at the global fora to provide inclusive results based on shared solutions,” according to a statement.

“The committee comprises notable dignitaries who will extend beneficial and critical viewpoints shedding light on various facets of climate action. The COP-29 forum in the past couple of years has become a household name from a mere oblivious international forum with all eyes glued to it for well-planned and mutually agreed strategies to combat the menace of climate change.”

The COP-29 IAC aims to represent diverse voices of climate advocates from different communities such as finance, academia, government, entrepreneurship, and civil society to provide multi-stakeholder guidance and expert advice to the COP-29 Presidency on key issues in the sphere of climate change.