Global Health Security Conference was held in Islamabad on Wednesday  and Thursday. Health experts, ministers, delegates and delegations from more than 70 countries participated in this important global gathering.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar addressed the opening session of the conference as a special guest. The summit called climate change a major threat to health in the world, especially in developing countries, saying that one billion children in the world are at high risk due to the climate crisis.  Pakistan has a very small share of environmental pollution, but it is the country that faces the most adverse effects and serious consequences. Pakistan's economy is losing 1 billion 80 million dollars annually due to climate change.  Rising temperatures and climate change are increasing floods, epidemics and other diseases. Malaria, dengue, typhoid, infectious diseases, dehydration, malnutrition and other problems are emerging rapidly. The first day of the conference had two sessions on (1) Pandemic Preparedness and Response (2) Climate Change and Increasing Threats to People's Health.  On behalf of the experts, it was said that the capacities should be utilized by increasing the efficiency in the health system and connecting other sectors with the health sector.  It was said that effective health system plays an important role for health emergency. It was further said that Pakistan has to establish an early warning system to deal with floods. Multinational communication and cooperation are of particular importance in combating the climate crisis.  It was also pointed out that there is a close relationship between health and climate change. The world has warmed up to 2 to 3 degrees, climate change poses health risks to the world, especially developing countries. Although technical questions were discussed and suggestions were made in the speeches and papers, the relationship between health and climate change was repeatedly brought up. In this way, the objectives of this conference have been revealed to a special extent with the objectives of the "Cope 28" (Conference of Parties 28) meeting held in Dubai last month and the objectives of the conference held in Paris in 2015. There is no denying the fact that many countries have used energy sources for their development that have pierced the earth's upper crust.

This hole is caused by the emission of carbon gases that are used in factories and transport, but despite the facts being brought to light, the pace of work on preventive measures in this chapter is still slow.  Scientists say that the heat generated by fossil fuels has increased the Earth's temperature to such an extent that everything is about to melt. There is unimaginable destruction.  Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq, in his address on the occasion, highlighted the need for effective, strong and joint measures to combat the epidemic. In his speech, where the objectives of the conference came to the summit, the world was drawn towards responsible actions regarding human health. At a time when Pakistan is on the cusp of strengthening its health technology sector, it is expected that this summit will not only strengthen our individual health systems but also lay the groundwork for global health protection.  Meanwhile, experts say that due to climate change effects, our country is facing water shortage due to which various water resources are in declining conditions. Due to water shortage, the energy resources are also shrinking as electricity from water is now not a viable option in some parts of the country. The Neelum Jhelum Hydro Power House has stopped power generation for almost two months from Wednesday, January 10 to the first week of March, adding another 969 MW to the recent shortfall and the load shedding that was going on for 12 hours earlier. The increase has exceeded 16 hours. In the context of this situation, the problems of the consumers who are already suffering from severe gas crisis will increase. According to WAPDA officials, the purpose of suspending the transmission of electricity from the Neelum Jhelum project is the 3.5 km tail race tunnel.  It is to be noted that due to technical fault, the production of the said project was shut down earlier for one year from July 2022 to July 2023 and during this period power loadshedding increased. In these two months of inspection, there will be an increase in reliance on thermal energy to eliminate additional load shedding, which may not be within the government's capacity to meet the production costs in the current situation, resulting in an increase in fuel adjustment charges in the electricity bills during these two months and poor people's Economic difficulties will increase.  On the other hand, none of the capital-intensive cheap energy projects are producing the required amount of electricity, even though solar, wind and nuclear power plants have received extraordinary attention during the last two decades. The total production is less than 15% while the total production volume including hydraulic is not more than 40%. After Dasu and Diamer Bhasha, Kala Bagh Dam is the only mega project that can meet the national requirement of electricity and water. The facility can enable this project through the council.

The current shortfall of mains electricity must be met through other resources. Important decisions have been made in the recent climate conference. The climate conference was a very important meeting in the global climate governance process.  The results of the conference are in line with China's concept of ecological civilization and its recommendations on promoting a green and low-carbon transition, and indicate the direction of the next phase of the global climate change process.  With the joint efforts of China and other countries, worldwide access and commercialization of renewable energy has become a reality.  China's efforts have reduced the production cost of photovoltaic power by 90 percent and the cost of wind power by 70 to 80 percent, and China has played a major role in promoting green and low-carbon development in the global response to climate change.  At the Climate Conference, 110 countries pledged to triple renewable energy. The countries of the world have joined together for the elimination of environmental pollution.  During the environmental conference COP 28, more than 110 countries have signed an agreement to triple the world's renewable energy capacity by 2030, oil and gas at the conference. 50 producing companies have also announced to be carbon-free by 2050. The carbon-free agreement includes government companies of 29 countries including Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.  The United States has pledged $3 billion for the Green Climate Fund at the COP28 environmental conference.  During the environmental conference organized by the United Nations, various agreements and promises have been made to deal with the global environmental crisis.  As many as 110 countries have also pledged to increase renewable energy production by 300%, these countries are determined to work together to bring global renewable energy production capacity to at least 11 gigawatts by the end of this decade.

And 50 gas-producing companies have also pledged to become carbon-free by 2050, with Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco and the United Arab Emirates' ADNOC among 29 state-owned companies that have signed a non-binding agreement.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 15 2024

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