A National consultation was held in Pakistan on Monday 12th September in preparation for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), Rio +20 June 2012. It was jointly organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its capacity as Co-Chair of the one UN Joint Programme on Environment and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). The Consultation, followed provincial consultations in Lahore and Karachi and engaged a wide range of Pakistani stakeholders (governments, private sector, Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), think tanks and civil society.<\/p>\n
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UNDESA Consultant for Pakistan\u2019s Preparations for UNCSD, Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel stated that the objective of the consultation was to secure renewed political commitment towards sustainable development based on the progress in implementation of previous summits on sustainable development and the new and old emerging challenges. He pointed out that Rio +20 Summit would discuss and make recommendations on green economy and institutional framework for sustainable development at global, regional and national level. <\/p>\n
In his opening address, Dr Ishfaq emphasised that strengthening implementation capacity on the ground is critical and the government and multilateral agencies can play a pivotal role in this regard. <\/p>\n
Addressing the opening session, Prof Dr M Qasim Jan said that SDPI has contributed to the work of the Planning Commission\u2019s Task Force on Climate Change and the formulation of the National Environment Policy in recent years. It is represented on the Advisory Group on Climate Change and Development. He said that the substantive and logistic support extended by SDPI, in collaboration with the UNDP, is perfectly in line with the mandate and goals of SDPI. After the Rio Summit, SDPI will join the government and other key stakeholders in ensuring the effective implementation of the outcomes of the Conference.<\/p>\n