He said the best way to involve the people in tackling climate change issues was to develop incentive based policies that attract private entrepreneur and general public.

The briefing was given by Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, Chairman of the Task Force on Climate Change and Advisor Science and Technology.

It was attended by Kamal Majidullah, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Water Resources and senior officers and federal secretaries of related ministries.

The President said that climate change was one of those global issues for the tackling of which international assistance was readily available.

He called for identifying the sources of international funding and cooperation to assist the government in areas such as efficient energy mix, increasing yield per acre and optimizing the use of water.

The President said that developing countries like Pakistan would pay a heavy price tomorrow for inaction today.

Problems cannot be avoided by delaying decisions as it only creates crises, the President added.

President Zardari also called for studies to determine the most efficient, economical and environmentally clean energy mix for Pakistan.

He said that studies carried out in the past in these areas should be examined and implemented wherever practicable.

The President also called for following up on the Environmental Protection Act that was passed by the Parliament about 15 years ago, he said.

He said that a strategy should also be devised for educating public opinion in the climate change and environmental issues to help implement the decisions made in these areas.

He said that climate change and degradation of environment was not only a challenge but also an opportunity and advised the government to explore the opportunities it offered.

He said that climate change and environmental issues had occupied international centre stage because they pose major development challenges that call for concerted action.

The President said that although the global climate change had been a cause of concern for the past several decades but more recently it had drawn attention of world governments, politicians, scientists and economists.

President Zardari said the issue of climate change had created new challenges in energy efficiency, renewable energy, water use, afforestation, agricultural improvement, power generation and even disaster management.

The President also said that such meetings should be held regularly to review what has been done, what requires to be done and what more can be done.

He also suggested to search for models in other countries that can be emulated in Pakistan.

He particularly identified water scarcity, land use and minimizing damage to environment as the areas where Pakistan can seek and adopt models from other countries.

Earlier Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed in his briefing explained that 8 working groups had been formed with 40 subject specialists on climatology, water, agriculture, energy, international cooperation for financial and technical support, economies, communication and awareness raising.

He said that most serious challenges for Pakistan due to climate change were the threats to its water security and food security.

Other challenges identified was increased health risks, increase in deforestation, risks to fragile marine and loss of biodiversity.

The Chairman of the Task Force recommended that Pakistan should devise and implement a National Policy and Plan of Action on Climate Change, with Ministry of Environment as the focal point for coordinating these activities.

He also recommended setting up of a National Council on Climate Change to oversee the efforts in all climate change related areas.

Citing U.S. and foreign officials, the Times reported the White House was unable to determine whether Israel had decided to carry out the strike before Washington objected or whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was trying to get Bush to act more decisively before he leaves office this month.

Israel’s request was for the specialized bunker-busting bombs that it wanted for the attack that tentatively involved flying over Iraq to reach Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, where the country’s only known uranium enrichment plant is located, the newspaper said.  The White House spurned requests for the bombs and flyover but said it would improve intelligence-sharing with Israel on covert U.S.  efforts to sabotage Iran’s nuclear programne.

The United States did give Israel one item on its shopping list:

high-powered radar, called the X-Band, to detect any Iranian missile launchings.  It was the only element in the Israeli request that could be used solely for defence, not offense, the report said.

Israel, known to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, bombed the site of a suspected atomic reactor site in Syria in 2007.

Details of the expanded U.S. covert programme and the Bush administration’s efforts to talk Israel out of attacking Iran emerged from 15 months of interviews with current and former U.S. officials, international nuclear inspectors, outside experts and European and Israeli officials, the Times said.

None of those interviewed would speak on the record, the paper said, adding it omitted many details of the covert efforts from its report at the request of senior U.S. intelligence and administration officials.

It said the interviews also suggested “that while Mr. Bush was extensively briefed on options for an overt American attack on Iran’s facilities, he never instructed the Pentagon to move beyond contingency planning, even during the final year of his presidency, contrary to what some critics have suggested.”

But aware that financial sanctions against Iran were inadequate, Bush turned to the CIA, according to people involved in the covert programme, authorizing a broader effort aimed at Iran’s industrial infrastructure supporting its nuclear programs, the Times said.

While the paper said details were closely held by U.S. officials, it quoted one as saying, “It was not until the last year that they got really imaginative about what one could do to screw up the system.”

But the official said “none of these are game-changers” in that the efforts would not necessarily cripple Iran’s programme.

Under Bush, whose term ends on January 20 when Barack Obama becomes president, the United States has sought tougher U.N.  sanctions against Iran to halt its nuclear programme, which Western nations believe is designed for making weapons.

Iran, which has no formal diplomatic relations with the United States, says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, not weapon oriented.

The Times said some Bush administration officials remained skeptical of the covert programme’s chances of success given what one said was Iran’s proximity to achieving weapons capacity.

Others held that Israel would not have been dissuaded from attacking if they believed the U.S. effort was unlikely to prove effective, the paper said.

In its dealings with Israel, Washington was especially distressed by Israel’s request to fly over Iraq to reach Iran’s major nuclear complex at Natanz, a request the White House flatly denied, the paper reported.

But the exchanges and tension prompted Washington to step up its intelligence-sharing with Israel, including the new U.S.  efforts aimed at sabotaging Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The Times said its interviews indicated Bush was convinced by officials, led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, that an overt attack on Iran would likely be ineffective, bringing the expulsion of international inspectors and driving Iran’s nuclear effort further from view.

“Mr. Bush and his aides also discussed the possibility that an airstrike could ignite a broad Middle East war in which America’s 140,000 troops in Iraq would inevitably become involved,” the paper said.

Bush instead opted for more intensive covert action, it said, adding that those operations and the issue of whether Israel would agree to anything less than a conventional attack on Iran posed vexing problems for Obama.

A protest in the Belgian capital that drew 30,000 turned violent as well, with demonstrators overturning cars and smashing shop windows. And in Manila, Philippines, policemen used shields to disperse students protesting outside the U.S. Embassy.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza on Dec. 27 to stop rocket fire from the militant Palestinian group Hamas. Gaza health officials say nearly 870 Palestinians have been killed, roughly half of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis have also died.

Some 2,000 protesters in the Pakistani port city of Karachi burned U.S. flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans, and several hundred of them marched on the U.S. Consulate, senior police official Ameer Sheikh said.

“They were in a mood to attack,” Sheikh said. “They were carrying bricks, stones and clubs.”

A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Islamabad, Lou Fintor, said the protesters did not get close to the consulate, which was closed Sunday.

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A gap in between of over two weeks thus paves the way for Sri Lanka to host a potential one-day series against India.

After much negotiation and tweaking of provisional itineraries, Sri Lanka will now arrive in Pakistan on January 18 to play three day-night ODIs, leave and then come back on February 14th to play two Tests.

“The ODIs will be played on January 21, 24 and 27 at Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad respectively,” Salim Altaf, chief operating officer PCB, told Cricinfo.

“They will then come back on February 14 to play two Tests in Karachi and Lahore.

Those dates will be announced soon,” he said.

The gap in between allows Sri Lanka to ink in a series against India, something their sports minister Gamini Lokuge said was “60% certain” recently.

Though BCCI officials have confirmed that contact has been made unofficially with Sri Lanka for a possible ODI series in between, they maintain they will consider a series against Sri Lanka only after they get a response from New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on their request for an additional Test for India’s tour in March.

That series starts on March 6 and currently includes two Tests, five ODIs and one Twenty20.

Duleep Mendis, the SLC CEO, told Cricinfo that though they have prepared a split tour itinerary with a one-day series against India in mind, nothing has been officially firmed up yet.

“We are still in the process of finalising the India series,” Mendi said.

“All I can say is that if that series goes ahead, it will happen in Sri Lanka.” The fixture scramble is essentially the result of India pulling out from their tour to Pakistan in January-February after the Indian government refused to grant the team permission to travel across the border.

Relations between the two neighbours are at a low as a result of the Mumbai attacks last November.

Sri Lanka agreed to replace India and travel to cricket-starved Pakistan.

But finalising the itinerary proved trickier than was originally forseen as the resulting gap in India’s schedule meant they were also looking for ways to fill it, potentially through a series against Sri Lanka and the extra Test against New Zealand.