ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change Chairperson Senator Sherry Rehman on Saturday said Pakistan was going to become a water scarce nation by 2050 with some parts of it already facing the situation.

She was speaking as chief guest at the closing ceremony of the two-year Green Urban Development (GUD) project hosted by the Institute of Urbanism (IoU) and the School of Leadership Foundation (SoLF), with the support of the US embassy.

The senator commended the Green Urban Development (GUD) project for empowering and catalysing young people under its youth-led eco-entrepreneurship initiative to devise tangible solutions for a better sustainable future.

She said there were no plastic collection sites and mechanisms across the federal capital, which was leading to water and soil pollution, leaving plastics to damage fragile marine ecosystems in the oceans and rivers.

She invited young eco-entrepreneurs to visit Rawal Dam to study its water pollution as a case study to come up with workable solution to cleanse the reservoir of impurities.

“Nine million gallons of waste is dumped into Rawal Dam per day which is practically all toxic and used by domestic households,” she said.

Ms Rehman warned that there was an urgent need to protect the future as well as the present amid highly accelerated climate disasters as Pakistan’s urbanisation rate stood at 3.3pc.

The senator said the federal capital could establish its own ecosystem of circularity, unlike the fancy big climate conferences coming with big pledges but end up with little action, to create sustainable solutions and awareness among masses.

Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy, US embassy, Lisa Swenarsk extended her gratitude to panelists and experts and lauded the GUD youth-led eco-entrepreneurship implemented by the IoU and SoLF that committed green solution and fostered partnerships among key stakeholders.

The US mission forged strong collaborations to address pressing challenges of urbanisation and navigate solutions as there were Green Urban Development schools established in two universities and co-urban hubs that inspired students at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) to tap half a million funding for scalable projects.

“These efforts are important for the US and Pakistani counterparts to collectively work on climate action as the future youth will get disproportionately affected by climate change. Youth-led eco startups show emerging leaders addressing climate problems as Pakistan’s innovators are paving the way for better future,” she said.

Green Pakistan Alliance Programme is one of the many mega efforts funded by the US to spend millions of dollars to address climate crisis, she added.

The event also showcased videos on the four eco-entrepreneurship projects like Sarsabz Qadam project electricity generation through walking by Comsats university architects where pacers were used to help walking and power generation by converting kinetic energy into electric current.

A panel discussion was held which was participated by Director General Water Management CDA Sardar Khan Zimri, Mohammad Bilal Yameen, deputy manager operations, RWMC and Dr Ejaz Ahmed from the IoU.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2024