KARACHI: Pakistan needs to learn from other countries and move towards resource-efficient infrastructures to adapt to changing climate needs, said Mohammad Ashraf Shanjer, a Canada-based architect and urban designer now visiting the city, during his talk held on Saturday evening at the Garden Centre.

The programme on climate change and world landscape was organised by the Horticultural Society of Pakistan (HSP).

Giving a presentation on the subject, Mr Shanjer, who works as a project manager in the highway and public works department at Yukon, Canada, said as global economies and population were growing, concerns about natural resources were increasing in the face of changing climatic conditions.

“California, one of the world’s largest economies, has been experiencing an acute water shortage due to drought conditions prevailing there for the past many years. In Greenland located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, more cultivation is possible today than it was two decades ago.

“We have seen that places with a history of scanty rains now having heavy downpour in a season. There are also examples of famine and festivity going on together. Hence, it’s a complex issue,” he said explaining how the weather was changing in different parts of the world.

According to Mr Shanjer, the fact that some people still opposed climate change was a healthy sign as it helped generate discussion and led to collection of more scientific evidences to prove the phenomenon.

He also referred to the destruction Pakistan faced in the aftermath of floods in recent years and regretted that no lessons had been learnt yet. “Changing weather conditions also present an opportunity. We should have developed strategies to conserve the huge quantities of water received during the monsoon season.”

He stressed the need for greater understanding to address the issue of climate change and said: “We need to sit together, exchange ideas. Given the fact that the government is not performing, organisations like the HSP can play a vital role in tackling this challenge. There is definitely a need for sustainable development.”

‘Green buildings’

Citing environment-friendly measures being taken in other countries, Mr Shanjer said the idea of having green buildings (also known as green construction or sustainable building) needed to be promoted as it provided an opportunity to use resources more efficiently.

“Unlike India and Sri Lanka, which have done a lot of work on environment-friendly infrastructures, Pakistan lags far behind. Though some people have taken initiatives, there is not a single certified green building in the country,” he said, explaining the term referred to a structure and the use of processes that were environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle (from design, construction, operation, maintenance and renovation, to demolition).

“Using sustainable building material, installation of solar panels, energy efficient equipment, provision of a bicycle stand in a building and providing employees accommodation near their workplaces are all part of green construction,” he said.

Such measures were either not part of the building codes in Pakistan, or if they were, they were not being implemented.

During the question-answer session, it was regretted that the government couldn’t submit a proper document on climate change commitments (known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) at last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2016