ISLAMABAD, 21 December 2020, (TON): Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said on Sunday that the government and World Bank will conduct a three-month study on Pakistan’s ocean waters for assessment of carbons sequestered by the country’s ocean waters and mangrove forests.

Talking to media, Mr Aslam said a blueprint had been planned to assess economic value of millions of tons of carbons stored in the ocean waters and mangroves in the country.

“The study will help identify the scale of Pakistan’s ocean waters’ carbon storage potential. It will also help weigh up the amount of carbon storage capacity of the country’s entire ocean ecosystem as well as the carbons stored so far in the ocean waters and coastal mangrove forests.”

He added: “We believe that so far the country’s ocean waters have stored carbons worth economic value estimated to be billions of dollars.”

“On March 19, 2015, United Nations’ Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) had completed its review and accepted Pakistan’s claim for extension of its continental shelf limits, extending Pakistan’s sea limits from 200 nautical miles to 350 nautical miles,” he recalled.

“These vital ecosystems sequester and store significant amounts of coastal blue carbon from the atmosphere and ocean. These coastal ecosystems are now considered of unprecedented importance for their role in climate change mitigation,” Mr Amin Aslam added.