ISLAMABAD: Senate Deputy Chairman Mirza Mohammad Afridi on Tuesday stressed the need for introducing climate change in the school curriculum to inform future generations of the problems faced in the wake of global warming.

“This is crucial in order to ensure that every citizen of Pakistan is aware of the immense climatic threat we face and is able to play their role in averting it,” he said while presiding over a capacity building seminar for members of the Senate on climate change.

The seminar was jointly organised by Parliamentary Development Unit (PDU) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) at Parliament House.

The session aimed to enlighten parliamentarians about impact of climate change and remedies as well as planning to control its density and safeguard people from its negative effects.

Mr Afridi said every individual of the society had crucial role to play and must be prepared to overcome issues and challenges posed by climate change. He said youth were valuable contributors to the climate action as agents of change, entrepreneurs and innovators.

Senator Seemee Ezdi, chairperson Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, stressed the need for accountability of the global North since the underdeveloped world currently faced the consequences of its environmental excesses that formulated 92 per cent of total world greenhouse emissions.

The participants were told that it was crucial that these countries kept the commitments made on various global forums. Pakistan, she added, had faced the consequences of global warming and was in need of global justice.

Director Policy and Governance WWF Dr Imran Khalid stressed the need for implementation of policies for Pakistan could play a role in reducing the immense environmental threat it faced.

WWF Director General Dr Hammad Naqi Khan said Pakistan must make the crucial shift towards alternative energy resources in order to protect the environment. He stressed the need for Pakistan to negotiate latest technology in this context from China that was the world leader in renewable energy resources.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2023