On 28th September 2020, a workshop titled “Environmental Monitoring & Reporting – The Case of Pakistan” was organized by the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), Government of Pakistan along with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and National Cleaner Production Center (NCPC) under the UNDP/GEF 'GGEB' Programme. The history of environmental information management in Pakistan is long. However, the hard reality remains that Pakistan to date does not have an integrated EIMS (Environmental Information Management System).

Dr. Saleem Janjua, Country Coordinator (GGEB) of Ministry of Climate Change & United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) told that the GGEB Programme aims to establish an integrated and robust Environmental Information Management System for Pakistan. In this regard, capacity building of relevant stakeholders is pertinently important, and this remains one of the key targets of GGEB Programme.

The objective of this workshop was to introduce and inform participants about the environmental monitoring and reporting, analyze its state for Pakistan, and thus suggesting necessary improvements required in the environmental monitoring and reporting of Pakistan.

Dr. Janjua formally opened the programme and in his key address presented the brief overview of the UN and Government of Pakistan's initiatives related to the environmental information and management. He highlighted the importance of environmental information & management system in the country and appreciated the efforts of United Nations in this regard. He also outlined the features of prospective EIMS in detail.

Mr. Irfan Tariq, Director General (Environment/Climate Change), Ministry of Climate Change, Government of Pakistan appreciated the efforts of GGEB Programme for organizing the workshop on an important topic and remarked that the establishment of EIMS was vital for the environmental sustainability of Pakistan.

His remarks were followed by a brief overview by Mr. Irshad Ramay, Coordinator of National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) about the NCPC which is a premier environmental organization of Pakistan that aims to introduce and promote Cleaner Production (CP) techniques and processes for Pollution Prevention at source along with integrated waste management.

The remarks session was followed by technical presentation titled “Environmental Monitoring & Reporting – The Case of Pakistan” by Mr. Nayyar Humair from NCPC.

Stakeholders/participants from different departments and organizations unanimously stressed the need of robust environmental information management system for Pakistan and the role that development projects like GGEB, through UNDP assistance, can play. It was unanimously agreed that environmental monitoring & reporting is pristinely important for environmental sustainability and all government departments/stakeholders should play their role in a coordinated manner for addressing key issues and safeguarding environment of Pakistan.