China, Pakistan to boost cooperation on Disaster Risk Reduction

ISLAMABAD    –  China and Pakistan will strengthen cooperation on natural disasters prevention and mitigation to build a China-Pakistan community with a shared future which will ensure a stable platform for preservation of natural resources.

“In face of climate change, disaster prevention and mitigation and other global issues, no country can manage alone or stand aloof. Only through joint efforts can we address them in a scientific way,” said Cui Peng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Director-General of China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre on Earth Sciences (CPJRC), while talking to CEN here on Saturday.

According to Cui, the annual frequency of extreme weather and major natural disasters caused by global climate change is about 320 times on average in the past four decades. Similar situation prevails in Pakistan.

Unusual heat wave has been striking Pakistan from March to May 2022, it is most likely by human-caused climate change, a rapid analysis finds. The peak temperatures reached 51C in March.

According to him, since the start of May, Balochistan province has been engulfed in ever-growing forest fire. China and Iran both assisted Pakistan in putting out the blaze.

As an expert on disaster risk reduction, Cui shared his opinion with CEN on China-Pak cooperation in this regard.

Cui called to establish a China-Pak cooperation mechanism on disaster information sharing and cooperation in disaster prevention and mitigation, to facilitate bilateral collaboration.

With reference to international practices on investments, the two nations should accelerate establishing a disaster risk assessment and prevention mechanism for major projects under the framework of the CPEC, to guard against and defuse major investment and engineering disaster risks.

Cui advised to advance the compilation of the disaster prevention and mitigation action plan under CPEC for closer people-to-people bonds and the building of China-Pakistan community with a shared future.

In terms of disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation, Cui advanced the application of the new generation “space-sky-ground” stereoscopic monitoring technology by using satellites, UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and ground-based real-time monitors in disaster identification and monitoring.

Cui thought it is necessary to strengthen disaster monitoring cooperation and carry forward the building of a monitoring network applicable to multiple disasters including earthquake, sleet and snowstorms, geo-hazards, flood and tsunami, to improve the monitoring and early warning capacity.

China and Pakistan could conduct regular disaster risk assessment of the key areas along CPEC in order to guarantee the people’s livelihood and major projects’ construction.