Climate resource portal launched in Islamabad

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Aerial view of a village in the Dubair Valley after the floods in 2024. — photo by Umar Bacha/File
Aerial view of a village in the Dubair Valley after the floods in 2024. — photo by Umar Bacha/File

ISLAMABAD: Climate Sangat, a dedicated web portal designed to facilitate the exchange of reliable information and resources on climate change, was launched by IRADA on Monday.

A consultation titled Climate Baithak, organised by IRADA and the International Media Support (IMS), brought together journalists covering climate and environment, academics, fact-checkers, and representatives of civil society organisations to discuss the role of digital knowledge-sharing in strengthening climate communication and public awareness. Waqas Naeem, a technical expert and co-designer of the Climate Sangat, gave a detailed demo of the web portal to the participants, including features such as new climate content, research and knowledge resources.

While explaining features of the web portal, Mr Naeem shared that the portal consists of three main sections: media hub, which provides journalists with news resources, research, data, and reporting tools; community action, which showcases community-led climate initiatives, local solutions, and success stories; and the learning centre, which offers educational materials, including an Urdu glossary of climate change terminology developed to promote a common understanding of climate concepts.

He also mentioned that the platform included a climate directory, featuring experts and practitioners working on climate-related issues to facilitate collaboration among journalists, researchers, policymakers, and civil society.

“Pakistan’s climate-related information ecosystem is being polluted with false, misleading and politically manipulated climate narratives that often proliferate at unprecedented speed. Climate Sangat, a dedicated web portal, is designed to facilitate the exchange of reliable information and resources on climate change,” said Muhammad Aftab Alam, executive director of IRADA.

Participants welcomed the launch of the Climate Sangat and offered a range of suggestions for strengthening the portal including curating policy briefs in multiple local languages, incorporating historical weather data, and developing interactive climate maps to improve public access to localised information.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2026

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