Pakistan contributes below 1 per cent to global emissions: Environmentalist

ISLAMABAD, August 18: Senior environmentalist Zabardast Khan Bangash said Pakistan is contributing only 0.8 per cent to the global emissions contributing to climate change.

Addressing a seminar on “Climate change a global emerging issue and its implications for Pakistan” Bangash deliberated upon various factors playing role in grief environmental effects that started taking place after the World War II.

He said the earth has under gone blatant violations of the nature which ultimately resulted into serious repercussions jeopardizing human existence in the universe. “Every living being and things associated with it including infrastructure and others are at stake in the contemporary degrading environmental regime”, he added.

“If earth loses oxygen for five seconds then all concrete buildings would turn into dust”, he remarked while explaining the vulnerability of human ecological system.

Bangash believed that it is high time for the country to develop disaster preparedness oriented policies, indigenous solutions for local problems, extensive research on environment rather focusing on futile endeavors.

He said the biggest polluters of the world were USA and China as contributing 23 per cent and 18 percent to the total worldwide pollution respectively with a total of 45 per cent only by G8 nations.

“The energy trapped by man-made global warming pollution is now equivalent to exploding 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bomb per day 365 days per year”, he added.

He said according to German fact finding of 2014, Pakistan is at number seven of Climate Risk Index, hence determining its ecological susceptibility. There is an urgent need, he said, to strengthen the national institutions and key players for environment conservation.

The government should also sensitize farmers and individuals belonging to all walks of life about the crucial impacts of climate change on the regional environment, he added.

The seminar was organized with the collaboration of Human Resource Development Network (HRDN) and Brac Pakistan.

Brac Pakistan representative, Muhammad Saeed said climatic changes are not only affecting under developed countries rather developed one as well.

He said his NGO has signed 10 memorandums of understandings (MoUs) with various international NGOs and other INGOs for bilateral cooperation on initiatives to develop sustainable healthy environment in the region.

He said that his organization has planned to develop schools facilitating 25 million communities and would sensitize associated communities about global warming and climate change.

(APP)