More floods if we don’t go green, says PM

PM warned that country will face further natural disasters if not made more energy efficient and environment friendly.

LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has warned that Pakistan will face further natural disasters unless we learn to be more energy efficient and environment friendly.

“We will pay collectively if we do not learn to live in harmoy with nature … more disaster will come,” said the prime minister in a speech at the commencement of the 14th Annual Asian Congress of Architects meeting, themed Go Green, at the Expo Centre on Wednesday.

He said that Asia could no longer bear the effects of global warming and melting glaciers, and there had to be a collective effort to clean up the environment. He said the recent floods in Pakistan were a warning about climate change and more natural disasters would occur without the collective push towards energy efficiency.

Speaking at the first ACA conference in Pakistan since 1992, for which the prime minister was about two hours late, Gillani told the architects in the audience that they had a responsibility to manage the world’s limited resources. Gone were the days, he said, when architects got unlimited budgets with which to design buildings.

The prime minister said he had kept strong ties with the Institute of Architects of Pakistan since serving as chief guest at one of their events nearly 25 years ago. He pledged the government’s support to the institute and directed the release of a grant for their cause.

He hoped that the conference would allow the leading minds of Asian architecture to develop strategies on enhancing eco-friendly architectural techniques.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2010.