ISLAMABAD: Dr. Moeed Yusuf, a former national security adviser, emphasized on Monday that Pakistan must prepare for the shifting global geopolitical and economic situation.
At a conference on the topic of geopolitical conflicts, I spoke. He said that unipolarity is evolving into a new world order, which will make it difficult for Pakistan to escape its implications for its geo-economic situation.
The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) organized the 25th Sustainable Development Conference, which took place concurrently with the 6th South and Southwest Asia High-level Political Forum and Policy Dialogue on SDGs hosted by UNESCAP. From December 5 to December 8, the four-day conference will be held in Islamabad.
According to Dr. Yusuf, Pakistan can either emerge as a model in which a destabilized Pakistan is unfavorable to the world or become a proxy ground for the contestation of great power status. He stated that Pakistan required a strategy to increase remittances by sending skilled labor to aging nations.
He suggested that Pakistan should also make bold policy decisions, decentralize power to local governments, and allow experts to enter the government structure laterally to change it. He emphasized the necessity of economic space privatization and deregulation, as well as the importance of ensuring policy continuity in crucial areas of governance through legal and constitutional safeguards.
According to retired Gen. Zubair Mahmood Hayat, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan faced serious geostrategic ramifications as a result of the global power struggle between RSS-driven, BJP-led Bharat and its associated Akhund Bharat ideology.
He stated that geopolitics and geostrategy are intertwined rather than pure economics. He emphasized the importance of developing concrete policies to accelerate the transition to clean energy and utilizing the blue economy to gain access to previously untapped markets. He suggested that in order to diversify markets and capitalize on human resources, “we need to explore digital, cyber, and space technology and get in sync with states.”
The question, “Can National Trade Policies Help Mitigate Climate Change?” was the topic of another panel discussion. Dr Asad Hayyauddin, a previous civil servant, said exchange and environment had a nexus suggesting the expense of harm because of natural corruption of carbon-serious organizations and its culprits are liable for repaying the harm done to biology.
He said that Pakistan wasn’t a developed nation because it didn’t sign three agreements on information technology, environmental good, and sustainable development.
According to Dr. Fahad Saeed, a climate scientist at Climate Analytics in Germany, Pakistan’s environment is impacted by powerful monsoon systems and westerly waves, making it more vulnerable to climate change.
He said that climate change made both Pakistan and Bangladesh vulnerable, but Bangladesh got $14 billion in climate finance, compared to Pakistan’s $7.7 billion.
According to Sardar Mohazzam, managing director of the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, the policy approach to trade and climate was top-to-bottom, whereas, for promising outcomes, grassroots intervention should be the opposite. According to him, the energy sector was the source of nearly half of all nationally determined contributions to carbon dioxide emissions. He stated, “We will need to concentrate on local energy sources.”
Haseeb Malik, PepsiCo Pakistan’s head of agro, stated that 36 million hectares of land in Pakistan were irrigated, utilizing more than half of the country’s freshwater resources. Drip irrigation, on the other hand, has the potential to help cut down on 70 percent of cultivated land’s water use.
According to Syed Sayem Ali, chief economist at the Bank of Punjab, the country is one of the most energy-dependent economies in the world because 30 percent of its imports are energy-related. Global trade has grown from $5 trillion this year to $30 trillion, according to data, while carbon emissions have also doubled.
Prior to this, Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal urged the nations of the region to work together to achieve the common objectives of reducing poverty, increasing literacy, sustaining socioeconomic development, and reducing the effects of climate disasters.
In order to assist developing nations in coping with climate catastrophes, the minister urged international financial institutions to establish a special fund that would offer interest-free loans to those nations with a grace period of up to 30 years.
According to Planning Secretary Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Pakistan has lost more than $30 billion due to recent flooding, and the country requires at least $1 billion for rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the affected areas.
According to Mikiko Tanaka, Director and Head of the UNESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia in Thailand, countries in the region are facing challenging times, necessitating strengthening partnerships for regional development. She stated that UNESCAP will continue to assist member nations in achieving the SDGs or Agenda 2030.
According to Knut Ostby, the UNDP Country Director, Pakistan has made significant progress toward a number of objectives, including the elimination of poverty, access to energy, inadequate nutrition, food insecurity, housing, and climate change. In addition to concrete structures, society must be resilient, which is connected to the SDGs.
According to Fathimath Niuma, the Maldives’ Deputy Minister for Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure, regional and subregional collaborations are necessary to combat the COVID pandemic.
Sri Lanka’s Minister of State for Finance, Shehan Semasinghe, stated that his nation places an emphasis on achieving high levels of productivity through a diversified economy.
