Peddling for greener environment

EU envoys cycle through capital; a documentary on climate change screened

ISLAMABAD: It says something about the seriousness that the world has towards tackling climate change and of the severe impacts, it is having when top envoys join together to raise awareness for reducing greenhouse gases.

Diplomats, mostly from European Union countries, came together to promote low-carbon transportation means by ensuring equitable access to sustainable development and to mark the annual Climate Diplomacy Day by cycling through the capital on a warm Sunday morning.



Led by the European Union’s (EU) Ambassador Jean-François Cautain, envoys from the Denmark and Sweden along with locals and representatives from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Pakistan) and the Ministry of Climate Change Secretary Syed Abu Akif, started off from the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). After cycling 10 kilometres over its designated route around D-Chowk, they circled back to PNCA.

The bicycle ride was followed by the screening of a thematic documentary, ‘There will be water’, which told the story of a man who experiments with deriving drinking water from ocean water and establishing greenhouses in the desert.  This year, a short documentary competition was also organised on climate change and poverty.

Students from various cities from across the country participated in the competition. Imtiaz Abbasi from Jamshoro, whose documentary highlighted the devastating poverty due to a climate change-induced drought-like situation in Dadu, won
the competition.

“The EU remains committed to the Paris Agreement and its full implementation while progressing steadily with the finalisation of the measures to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2030,” said EU Ambassador Cautain.

He added that by strengthening and widening its partnerships, the EU had progressively become the flag bearer in the fight against climate change.

“The objective of this sustained engagement is for the EU to raise global climate ambition together with its partners, in particular, those the most exposed to the negative side effects of climate change,”

Cautain added that climate change requires collective action and the EU remains committed to continue working hand-in-hand with Pakistan, listed amongst the most vulnerable countries despite the low level of its global carbon emissions.



WWF-Pakistan Director General Hammad Naqi Khan stressed upon the importance of promoting a common worldwide understanding of the need for action to mitigate climate change.

“No matter how people perceive climate change, the phenomenon is real – we are experiencing an array of environmental shifts, such as infrequent weather events, untimely glacial melt, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and changes in animal and bird migration patterns, highlighting irrefutable linkages to climate change taking place in full effect, ” Khan said.

Earlier, the Swedes went beyond everyone else as they embarked on a hike prior to joining the bike ride.

On Climate Diplomacy day, conferences, citizens’ debates, exhibitions, films and social media activities aiming to encourage informed debates and a joint response to the climate challenge were held. These events build on the momentum of the Paris Agreement - the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal agreed in Paris in December 2015.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2017.