Overutilisation of resources, population growth lead to climate change, says speaker. PHOTO: FILE
The question was asked by Shehri - Citizens for a Better Environment's (CBE) Farhan Anwar while addressing a session on 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - A Roadmap for Implementation' on Thursday.
Pakistan's oil and gas discoveries touch record
The event was organised by Shehri - CBE in partnership with Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung at the Institute of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) building.
Anwar pointed out that there are historical markers of when the exploitation of natural resources started. "It was the age of industrialisation," he said, adding that the transition from agriculture to industrialisation started in the 1970s and it was booming by the 1990s.
According to Anwar, industrialisation has generated implications such as the birth of surplus economy - when we start producing more than what we require - exploitation of resources and phenomenal population growth and birth of modern city, which has formed factory towns.
Due to all these reasons, he said that the most potent challenge that humanity is facing now is climate change. Ninety per cent commercial activities generate greenhouse gases, which lead to climate change, he said, adding that most of such activities are based in cities.
Challenges to Karachi
Many issues and problems faced by Karachi are directly associated with hinterland, said NED University architecture and planning chairperson Dr Noman Ahmed while speaking on the occasion.
The national and regional planning and corresponding implementation - a prime pre-requisite for creating equilibrium between Karachi and its adjoining region - is grossly missing, he claimed.
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Speaking on the challenges the city faces, he said that unipolar urbanisation is taking place in Karachi, which means that people from rural areas come to Karachi alone and don't go to other cities of the province. This leads to stagnant urbanisation in secondary cities of Sindh, including Hyderabad, added Ahmed.
Meanwhile, social activist, Roland deSouza said that the leaders of the country are not heading in the right direction. "Municipal functions are being moved to provincial level," he said. "If [the] provincial government is going to construct roads and pick up garbage, then who is going to do work of the provincial government such as making laws?"
Understanding SDGs
The year began with the activation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) when, on January 1, the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - earlier adopted by world leaders in September, 2015, at an historic United Nations summit - officially came into force.
Now, over the course of the next 15 years, countries all over the world are expected to mobilise efforts to bring an end to all the forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change in an equitable manner. The SDGs follow on the experience of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and have a much larger scope and mandate.
Anwar said that the holy grail of sustainability lies in three 'E's', which include environment, economy and equity. A sustainable city, according to him, is one which is economically vibrant and prosperous, where growth is not at the cost of physical or natural environment.
Shedding light on the five 'P's' of the SDGs, which correspond to people, he said they also include planet, partnership, peace and prosperity.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2016.
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