Overwhelming evidence accumulated over the last three decades clearly shows that human activity has reached a level where it is significantly affecting the global environment. Furthermore, the global change due to anthropogenic perturbations is happening at a much shorter time scale compared to the natural events. It is feared that some of the resulting adverse impacts will have serious implications in areas such as climate, health, water, energy, food security etc. in many parts of the world. Developing countries with weak scientific and technological base will be most vulnerable to such adverse impacts.
It is in this perspective that the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC) was established in May 2002 on the initiative of Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, then Special Advisor to the Chief Executive of Pakistan. The Centre started functioning with seed money provided by the Ministry of Science & Technology, and functioned as a Public Sector Development Project (PSDP) for 11 years.
In March 2013, GCISC was granted the status of a regular national entity by passage of "GCISC Act 2013" through the Parliament. It is now functioning as dedicated research institute, under the directions of a Board of Governors (BOG-GCISC) as per provision of the Act.
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