Pakistan will once again join countries around the world to help raise awareness about climate change, by turning off their lights for one hour on March 31.
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s (WWF) newly appointed Earth Hour Ambassadors for the year 2012 gathered at Pearl Continental to officially inaugurate this year’s Earth Hour, albeit exactly one hour later than it was scheduled to begin. Each ambassador was escorted by students of WWF’s leading ‘Green School’, Dawood Public School, holding candles in their hands.
The dignitaries include renowned actress and comedian Bushra Ansari, hockey legend Sohail Abbas, singer and philanthropist Shehzad Roy, tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, actor Faisal Qureshi, model Nadia Hussain and singer Fawad Khan.
Once the programme got under way Shehzad Roy jokingly quipped, “the electricity goes quite frequently in Pakistan anyway, so we are already quite environmentally friendly.”
He then took on a more serious note, pleading with Sindh Environment Minister Sheikh Muhammad Afzal who was present, “we have to stop dumping sewerage from Karachi into the ocean. The government can be pushed through our pressure groups to do this much.”
WWF Pakistan President Khalid Mahmood supported Roy’s statement saying, “there are poorer countries around the world that have managed to stop dumping untreated sewerage into the ocean, Pakistan can do it too.”
Earth Hour is a symbolic action that turned into a movement for change, becoming the biggest global climate change initiative. For cynics, it represents just another campaign that extends only to the privileged and guests highlighted this issue. “We have to convey this message in Urdu as well, not just in English for the small population that speaks it,” asserted Bushra Ansari. Roy had earlier added that even the privileged community wasn’t aware of many environmental issues.
Olympic hockey star Sohail Abbas continued in a similar vein. “We should take this hour and reflect on how we live our lives,” he suggested. Nadia Hussain added to Abass’ words by saying, “I’ve realised that I have to create awareness as a mother to educate my child, as a housekeeper to educate those who work with me, and as a neighbour.”
The ambassadors were decorated with badges honouring them and the ceremony was concluded by all the guests lighting a candle in unison, to officially inaugurate the efforts for the awareness campaign that will take place over the next month until Earth Hour.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2012.
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WOW!!!! Pakistan has to be on the top then....we experience the TURNING OFF of lights every SINGLE DAY....and not only for one hour...but around 3-4 hours
Firstly, I was there at the event, and it started exactly on time, not an hour later - it's quite disappointing how a prestigious news paper publication can be so faulty. Secondly, Shehzad Roy was being sarcastic when he said,“the electricity goes quite frequently in Pakistan anyway, so we are already quite environmentally friendly.” It's sad when journalists fail to get the tone people talk in...
lmao @ the heading of the news, light aye gi to band karen gay na!!!
I am lost! Burning so many candles.some needs to calculate the amount of polutants to show it's efficacy
Groundwater protection -- you only have one chance. Once it is contaminated with industrial and agricultural waste, it costs a lot more to clean it for human use than it would have cost to safeguard it in the first place.
we already have load shedding for more than 4 hours a day and even then we have to switch off lights....huh