US working to increase Pakistan’s resilience to climate change: Blome

ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Donald Blome said the US is working with diverse partners to increase Pakistan’s resilience to climate change through a Green Alliance.

During his visit to Quetta, the US envoy met with Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, local partners working to advance climate change adaptation, representatives of higher education institutions, leaders of local NGOs, and Afghan refugees.

During his visit, Ambassador Blome underscored the strong cooperation between the United States and Pakistan on promoting economic development through higher education and women’s empowerment.

Ambassador Blome participated in a community tree planting drive that will become part of a larger project to develop an urban forest in the city of Quetta. The project, led by youth activists, aims to advance climate change adaptation, raise climate risk awareness and increase community resilience to climate change by providing a platform to bring diverse groups together for collective societal benefit.

At the event, the ambassador highlighted the US government has provided more than $97 million in flood-related assistance to Pakistan this year, including to individuals and communities in need in Balochistan. “But we know that the effects of the flooding are far from over, and every nation faces the threat of climate change,” he said.

During the trip, Ambassador Blome also met with leadership from the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences and the Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University. The US ambassador said the United States, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided scholarships to almost 300 students—56 percent of them women—to pursue higher education at the institutions and further their communities’ economic development.

The United States is also proud to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) livelihoods programme in Quetta, which fosters economic development for Afghan refugees and local artisans.

US Ambassador Blome also visited the Command and Staff College in Quetta and met with Commandant Major General Amer Ahsan Nawaz, XII Corps Commander Lieutenant General Asif Ghafoor and mid-career army officers. He discussed the long history of US-Pakistan relations in diverse areas besides emphasizing on working together to build a Green Alliance to support Pakistan’s transition to cleaner and sustainable forms of energy and advancing shared interests in trade, investment, health security, climate change, inclusive governance and regional security.

The United States has a broad, deep and long-term partnership with the people of Balochistan spanning the education, economic, health and rule of law sectors and beyond, the ambassador said.