Functions of the PNC

To complement these objectives, the PNC's main functions encompass:

  • To take advocacy positions on issues of interest.
  • To develop contact and a working relationship with other National Committees and Regional Committees of IUCN.
  • To send an annual report of PNC activities to the IUCN Council and the Director General.
  • To coordinate joint studies by members on national and regional environmental problems.
  • To act as the forum for dissemination of IUCN documents.
  • To monitor and strengthen the work of the Pakistan Environment Protection Council.
  • To coordinate with Standing Committees of Environment in the National Assembly and Senate and follow up on their work.

 

PNC's Contributions and Institutional Diversity

The PNC affords a unique forum for the facilitation of dialogues between government and non-government agencies by providing an objective space, which allows candid discussions on major environmental issues and is not held hostage by a media dialogue. This by no means suggests that the PNC deliberations are non-transparent, rather it facilitates an unencumbered sharing of views on issues which are also under media reportage.

Through extensive communication and information dissemination, the PNC provides relevant institutions and decision-makers in the government and civil society with reformative and corrective recommendations on the environment.

With the support of the Pakistan National Committee, the membership of IUCN in Pakistan remains actively involved in undertaking several public policy and public information events and initiatives on national and global environmental and sustainable development concerns. These include:

  • advocacy and support during environmental disasters, such as the Tasman Spirit Oil Spill in 2003,
  • a series of round tables on the role of public hearings in Environmental Impact Assessments, (four provincial roundtables held in 2004), and a recent round table on forestry issues (held in 2005),
  • an on-going series of policy and information dialogues on varying development interests, entitled “Are you Speaking, Are you being Heard?”,
  • facilitation of members from Pakistan to attend international events, which has included, but not been limited to the World Parks Congress at Durban in September 2003, Asia Regional Conservation Forum at Colombo in December 2003, and the recent World Conservation Congress at Bangkok in November 2004,
  • discussions and advocacy on issues of current national, regional and provincial concerns, ranging from the National Environment Policy to the developments in the New Murree Hills.

The PNC also undertakes a novel approach to ensure inclusiveness of all members in its activities, by organizing the PNC meetings, forums and events in diverse provincial locales. This deliberate element of mobility ensures complete representation, ownership and inclusion.

Where there is geographical outreach, there is also institutional diversity. The PNC's multi-sectoral nature is illustrated in the diversity of its membership from the specialist National Institute of Oceanography and the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, to educational development concerns of the Teachers Resource Center and capacity development of grassroot communities by the Strengthening Participatory Organization.