Senators back plans for climate change curricula

Awareness campaign through state media to be launched

ISLAMABAD: A panel of Senators has backed plans to include climate change-related issues in curricula apart from launching a massive awareness campaign through public media properties to highlight the impacts of the environmental shifts.

The Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change met at Parliament House on Friday with Senator Mir Yousaf Badini in the chair.

During Friday’s meeting, the committee members expressed their annoyance over the absence of National Disaster Management (NDMA) chairman from the meeting.

When NDMA Member Finance Rahila Saeed told the committee that she had been nominated to attend the meeting to represent the body’s chairman, Senator Pervaiz Rasheed expressed his displeasure.

“NDMA chairman, instead of attending the meeting himself, has sent an officer to the standing committee. It shows the improper attitude of NDMA chairman and humiliates the parliament,” Rasheed said.

Senator Saleem Zia and Senator Samina Abid echoed Senator Rasheed’s comments. This compelled Badini to stop the NDMA officer from continuing with her presentation and asked her to leave the meeting, but not before telling her to convey their protest to the NDMA chief.

Awareness campaign needed

Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan told the committee that there was a dire need to launch an awareness campaign about climate change and its impacts on an emergency basis.

“Owing to climate change, Pakistan is suffering a colossal loss of tens of billions of dollars annually with the country’s agriculture sector worst affected,” Mushahidullah stated, adding that “crops, as well as farmers, are suffering due to untimely and off-pattern rains.”

Noting that Pakistan was only contributing 0.8% to global greenhouse gases (GHG), the rise in temperatures were causing glaciers to melt rapidly.

Talking about efforts undertaken by his ministry to mitigate environmental impacts, he said that they were planning to launch a tree plantation drive in the Margalla Hills.

“Trees have a tendency to hinder flooding at least for 72 hours and have a capacity to store carbon,” Mushahidullah said.

Stating that while the ministry extends support to all federating units to combat the effects of climate change, it was essentially a provincial subject after devolution under the 18th amendment.

He told the committee that dense forest covers in K-P, G-B and AJK were under threat from logging for commercial purposes.

“It is the duty of respective provinces to prevent forest degradation,” the climate change minister said.

The committee decided to form a coordinating committee on climate change comprising parliamentarians for better coordination.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2017.