Lahore: The Urban Unit participated in the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) Country Impact Study evaluation session organized by Lead Pakistan. The session was held to better understand local hurdles affecting the design and execution of climate compatible development and to gauge the Urban Unit’s feedback on CDKN, as a key stakeholder. Mr. Cowan Coventry, Independent Consultant managed the interactive session and solicited feedback from the Urban Unit to better evaluate the performance of CDKN’s Pakistan Country Impact Study.
During the session, Mr. Coventry inquired about the current government machinery and policy framework in place to tackle climate change on a provincial and national level. The Urban Unit spoke of the many hurdles that were currently effecting the adoption and implementation of a unified climate change policy in Pakistani, including lack of institutional cooperation, lack of ownership on a provincial and national level, lack of political will, dearth of forward planning and scarcity of public awareness on the subject among others.
The Urban Unit shared its feedback and recommendations for the formulation of an appropriate Climate Change policy and highlighted how the organisation could collaborate with the government, specifically the Planning and Development, Department, the Environment Protection Department and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, and support the creation and implementation of the policy. Mr. Khizer F. Omer, Manager Research and Country Program Manager CDKN, shared feedback regarding CDKN’s current projects, including the evaluation of the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) approach in Sialkot and the Low Carbon Scenario Analysis Project among others.
CDKN is now in its fifth year of operation and is managed by an alliance of organisations led by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), and includes Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, LEAD International, LEAD Pakistan, the Overseas Development Institute, and SouthSouthNorth. CDKN has three main governance pillars: the Management Oversight Committee, the Network Council and the Management Team.