KARACHI: “As a country, we are over-regulated and over-legislated,” said Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab at the Sustainability & Climate Action Conference 2025 held on Thursday.

While acknowledging the importance of walking the talk, the mayor focused on the monetary aspects of climate change that can give birth to commercial activities such as green initiatives and carbon credits.

“There is a craze to plant trees and then post it on social media. However, we need to go beyond and focus on sustainability — watering and maintaining those plants. For that, the commercial aspect is crucial,” said the mayor. Offering the support of Karachi’s administration, he underscored the importance of public-private partnerships “to evolve policies focused on action” because, as he put it, “we meet, we talk but are unable to find our way forward”.

The Sindh Higher Education Commission organised the conference in collaboration with Sohail University.

Participants discuss the role of academia, steps to address climate change impacts

It marked the official inauguration of the Karachi Centre for Climate Change (KCCC) — a new platform for integrated climate education, policy innovation, and institutional reforms across Sindh’s universities. The centre will function as a research, policy, and training hub, designed to support universities across the province.

The role of academia

Calling universities “sanctuaries of sustainability”, Senior Pusine Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah underlined the role that they can play at every level — from teaching the science and prevention of climate change to serving as “living laboratories” that research its impact.

Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry of the Sindh High Court also focused on the economic dimension of climate action. “At the outset, let’s be honest and accept that climate action is driven less by a desire for a healthy planet for posterity and more by the aim of protecting capital after the adverse effects of climate change have already hit the economy,” he said.

Referencing the Global Landscape on Climate Finance report by the Climate Policy Initiative, he noted that households are the largest private contributors to climate finance, primarily through investments in renewable energy, such as solar panels and electric vehicles. “Perhaps government policy should focus more closely on these two sectors,” he suggested.

For context, Pakistan’s recently passed federal budget imposed a 10 per cent tax on imported solar panels. While the proposed sales tax hike to 18pc on hybrid cars was rejected, it remains at 12.5pc. This is the second time in the last year that the government has proposed higher sales tax rates for hybrid vehicles, only to withdraw them later.

Justice Jawad Hassan of the Lahore High Court spoke about Article 9A of the Constitution — the right to a healthy environment — under which schools and colleges should incorporate climate change into their curriculum.

The role of academia was a central theme at the conference, though it came with several reality checks.

As Dr Zabita Khan Shinwari, Vice Chancellor of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science & Technology, Karachi, pointed out, “We don’t need more doctors of philosophy or articles published in magazines that charge hefty fees. What we need is practical fieldwork to tackle the myriad challenges we face. All grants from the government come from taxpayers — many of them are poor — and every rupee should be treated as such.”

In his address, Advocate Syed Bulent Sohail, Pro Vice Chancellor of Sohail University and Founding Director of KCCC, laid out the centre’s vision. “We envision KCCC as a platform for cross-sectoral innovation, regulatory alignment, and climate-ready education,” he said.

Sameem Akhund, Sustainability Research Manager at the Centre for Responsible Business, pointed to the need for specifics on a climate-related curriculum that goes beyond a standalone module.

“Architects should know how to design climate-resilient buildings, business students must understand the economic risks of climate change, and engineers need to learn how to bring water across challenging terrain. Climate thinking must be embedded in every discipline,” she said.

Ms Akhund also stressed the importance of connecting academia with grassroots realities. “We need data — because if we don’t know where the gaps are, how can we address them?” she said.

She urged educational institutions to take the lead in mapping climate vulnerability at the district level, noting, for example, that the solutions required in Tharparkar are very different from those needed in Karachi.

She further pointed out that while the climate crisis is universal, its impacts are far from equal — disproportionately affecting women. “When there’s no water, it’s girls who leave school to fetch it. Yet, policies rarely apply a gender lens. Floods, too, affect women more severely. We need not just climate-smart solutions but climate-just ones — localised approaches that respect local terrain and cultures,” she concluded.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2025