Foreign diplomats clean enclave

Mission staff collect trash under ‘DiploGreen’ drive

ISLAMABAD: With sanitation services of the city spread thin across the city apart from facing a host of issues, diplomats and civil society volunteers on Wednesday decided to take it upon themselves to clean up the high-security Diplomatic Enclave.

A large number of employees of embassies, volunteers and activists gathered under the banner of ‘DiploGreen’ — a cleanliness initiative spearheaded by the embassies of Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States which supports Islamabad’s plastic-free campaign recently announced by the Ministry of Climate Change — outside the Canadian High Commission on Wednesday morning.

Armed with sticks, grippers and bags for the different kinds of waste, they dispersed into the enclave to collect solid waste. A large number of members of civil society also joined foreign missions in this noble cause.

For the next two hours, they collected trash from across the diplomatic enclave and divided them into the five different types of recyclable trash including metal, plastic, glass, paper and tetra packs.

The then convened at the Canadian High Commission to dump the trash in the clearly labelled bins. The cleanup and recycling drive concluded with a ceremony at the mission.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam addressed the gathering and shared the government’s vision about protecting the environment and other climate-related issues.

Canadian High Commissioner Wendy Gilmour then announced the launch of the ‘DiploGreen’ movement in collaboration with different embassies and high commissions. She went on to elucidate that their goal was to raise awareness about the environment.

“Today, the diplomatic community came together to clean and recycle our way to a healthier environment for us all,’ she added, noting that the initiative aimed to maintain a clean and green Diplomatic Enclave.

“We are all impacted by environmental issues. It is imperative that we continue to work together across geographic and political boundaries to protect our natural surroundings,” the envoy said.

The gathering also gave participating diplomatic missions, as well as businesses and organizations the opportunity to discuss their respective sustainability pledges in favour of a healthier environment.

With these pledges, new environmental measures were discussed including the ban on single-use plastics, starting a recycling programme, committing to reduce energy or water usage or supporting awareness campaigns.

A French embassy representative explained that DiploGreen is an extension of France’s sustainable development programme and was introduced in Pakistan earlier this year by the French embassy to reduce its environmental impact in the country.

In this regard, the French embassy has banned the use of single-use plastic utensils in events that it organises.

This action is expected to be followed by the implementation of recycling procedures for the internal functioning of the embassy with a local player of the recycling sector before the end of the year.

The embassy representative said that they were also studying the progressive adaptation of the embassy to partly renewable energy with solar panels.

France has also contributed significantly for sustainable development of Pakistan with a portfolio worth Rs973 million Euros and 23 projects financed over the past 12 years.

The French development agency is mainly active in Pakistan through its massive support to green energy.

The German embassy started cooperating with the recycling company ‘Saaf Suthra Sheher’ in March 2018. Since then, the embassy staff segregated waste in different waste bins and all recyclables are regularly collected and recycled by Saaf Suthra Sheher.

In February this year, the embassy launched a communications campaign called #Greentit which intends to raise awareness about the need for environmental protection.

The upcoming construction of a new embassy building will significantly enhance the level of energy efficiency as modern building insulation and windows will reduce the need for cooling and heating.

Additionally, a photovoltaic system will be installed and will contribute to the embassy’s greener footprint, the German embassy representative told.  

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2019.