National Impact Assessment Programme (NIAP) is three and a half year programme aiming to contribute to sustainable development in Pakistan by strengthening Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and introducing Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Pakistan’s development planning process. NIAP has four partners namely: the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA); Environment Wing, Ministry of Climate Change (MoNDM); Environment Section, Planning Commission of Pakistan and IUCN Pakistan. Technical assistance to the programme is being provided by the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA). The project is funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN).

The Ministry of Climate Change, the IUCN Islamabad Programme Office and NIAP is holding a joint event in collaboration with Serena Hotels to celebrate the World Environment Day 2012. The Federal Minister for Environment Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan is the chief Guest at the occasion. 

Environmental Protection Departments/ Agencies (EPA) are organising special events to celebrate WED  in various provinces of Pakistan. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is “Greening Economy: Does it include you?” Since EIA and SEA are considered effective tools for greening the economy and are participatory in nature, they are directly linked to the theme of the WED therefore all EPAs are taking this opportunity to highlight the importance of these tools in sustainable development.  The events will be attended by senior government officials, civil society representatives, academia, media, school children and eminent personalities.

EPA Punjab has organised a five day plan for the WED. To kick-start the celebrations, a seminar was held on June 1st, 2012 by the Government of Punjab and NIAP. The event was chaired by Senior Assistant to Chief Minister on Environment Mansha Ullah But, who also chairs the committee on WED. He stressed that every individual has to take responsibility towards environment. He also said that Punjab government would utilize all its resources to decrease the environmental degradation in the province.  The event was followed by a number of activities, which will culminate on June 5th, 2012.

EPA Sindh has also planned weeklong celebrations to mark the World Environment Day. A half day seminar on Sustainable Development and Industrialization is being organized on June 6th, 2012, to mark the end of weeklong celebrations on World Environment Day. Sheikh Muhammad Afzal (Khalid Umer) Minister for Environment will be the Chief Guest on the Occasion. The event is being organized under the auspices of NIAP and IUCN. A daylong programme is planned by EPA Khyber Pakhtunkhaw (KPK) and the Pakistan Forest Institute (PFI), Peshawar. Minister for Environment KPK, Wajid Ali Khan will chair the event. School children will participate in thematic poetry and tableau competition. The event will be followed by a workshop titled ‘Orientation workshop on SEA and EIA under Awareness Raising on enforcement of Section-12’. Participants from all walks of life will participate in this workshop. EPA Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) is also organising a similar event to mark the World Environment Day. Minister for Environment, Ms. Shazia Akbar will be the Chief Guest at the occasion. Experts will be delivering presentations highlighting the importance of EIA and SEA in greening the economy of the country.

EPA Balochistan will hold a joint event with IUCN Balochistan Programme Office and NIAP to mark the celebrations for the World Environment Day. The chief guest at this occasion will be Minister for Environment, Balochistan Mir Asghar Rindh. The event will also feature ‘Remove Plastic Bag day Campaign’.

EPA Gilgit Baltistan will collaborate with Karakoram International University (KIU) on June 14th. The details of the event are being chalked out

For more Information please contact:


Arfa Zaheer Azmat
Deputy Project Manager/ Advocacy Coordinator -NIAP
Islamabad Programme Office

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources- Pakistan
H. No 21, Street 88, Sector G- 6/ 3
Islamabad, PAKISTAN

Tel: +92 51 2271027- 34
Fax: +92 51 2271017
Email: arfa.zaheer@iucn.org