ISLAMABAD - Minister of Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan on Tuesday said concerted efforts were on to protect the country from increasingly devastating fall outs of man-made climate change.

Talking to media, he said urged media to join hands to boost resilience against adverse climate change impacts.

We must join hands today to mitigate the climate risk to the world by bringing together businesses, governments and public bodies to accelerate sustainable development, advance the green economy and promote use of natural resources with sanity, Khan said.

The common global menace of climate change, which has put the sustainability of the planet earth at risk, cannot be tackled; everyone should play its due role in enhancing awareness about the hazards of climate change, the minister said.

He said that the current government had already devised forestry policy, while wildlife policy would soon be made public. Khan said the government intended to constitute Climate Change Authority (CCA).

The four-member authority would be headed by an expert.  Over 100 subject specialists would also be included in the CCA. He said that he had suggested to the government to allow import of wood to avoid cutting of trees.

The minister has issued directives to plant 100 trees in place of cutting a tree. Responding to a question, he said the claims of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government of planting 1.8 billion saplings was appreciable.

In response to another query, he said former president Asif Ali Zardari was not a political personality as he had never been associated with any student movement or any political movement.

The statement of Asif Ali Zardari terming Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri as replacement of Nawabzada Nasrullah was simply lamentable.

He said that he had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan Tobacco Company to sponsor the construction of boundary wall of botanical garden being constructed on 785 acre land at Bani Gala Islamabad.

The inauguration ceremony of the boundary wall to cost Rs 80.5 million would be on January 10.

Responding to a question, Khan blamed neighbouring India for increasing smog in the country, saying he had already written a letter to the foreign office to take up the issue with India at the foreign office level.