KARACHI: The world has only 10 years to bring a radical turn to their economies and social structures to cope with a perilous climate change that is looming large to drive millions into hunger and poverty, experts warned on Thursday.
Speaking at a seminar on ‘Engagement of Youth in Addressing Coastal Climate Vulnerability,’ held at the auditorium of Karachi University, they said climate crisis is hurting people disproportionately worldwide.
The event was jointly organized by Oxfam and WWF-Pakistan as part of a nationwide campaign called ‘CLIMATE Project.’
Experts said the threat of climate change is already grown to strike the world’s poorest people, youth, women, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups disproportionately.
Climate change is impacting the coastal belt of Pakistan, and posing a serious threat to livelihoods, health, economy, and ecosystems as a whole.
Public action is key for unlocking greater ambition on climate change and the engagement of youth has a critical part to play as they are our future leaders.
The mobilisation will create change in key climate justice actions during the current pandemic and demonstrate public support for systemic change.
Experts further said the coastal belt of Sindh is more vulnerable to climate change impacts which leads to food security issues and loss of local livelihoods mainly fisheries and agriculture.
They added that youth must show climate activism on amplifying the voices and struggles of people living in these areas. Participants agreed that if empowered through social and environmental awareness, youth has the power to transform our society to have a climate resilient future.
Welcoming the guests Oxfam’s climate campaign lead, Abbasy told the seminar that “climate change-associated destruction is a powerful story of inequality and injustice in both causes and impacts.”
The climate crisis threatens almost every aspect of life, but also provides opportunities to step up a work on hunger, poverty and the food system, besides land and public rights in crisis, and access to healthcare, she emphasized.
Shirin vowed to support women standing on the frontlines of this crisis as climate heroes.
On the occasion, Dr Tahir Rasheed, Director Wildlife, WWF-Pakistan said severe impacts of climate change are being felt in the Indus Delta, which is a rich biodiversity hotspot and home to seventh largest mangrove forests in Asia.
He informed that the delta is now at greater risk due to inadequate freshwater supply from the Indus River, climate change vulnerabilities, pollution, and other anthropogenic pressures.
The fallout of climate change impacts is also leading to biodiversity loss in the deltaic region. Dr Rasheed highlighted key outcomes of the joint initiative of WWF-Pakistan and Oxfam GB in the Indus Delta and shared that two sectoral Local Adaptation Plan of Action (LAPAs) have been developed on the basis of Vulnerability Risk Assessment (VRA).
This will serve as guiding mechanisms for policymakers to support in building the resilience of natural resource-dependent communities. The youth, who can inspire hope, should come forward to reverse climate change and protect the mangroves ecosystems in the deltaic areas of Sindh, he added.
Abdul Rahim Soomro, Secretary Sindh Agriculture, Supply and Prices Department appreciated the efforts of Oxfam and WWF-Pakistan towards engaging youth and enhancing its awareness on the issue of climate change and its impacts on the coastal communities.
The role of youth, he added, is critical in addressing climate vulnerabilities in the future. This generation will also be witnessing some of the grim impacts of climate change and hence, enhancing their capabilities and knowledge on this issue would be instrumental for future adaptation plans and strategies.
He also stressed that there is a need to prioritize building resilience and adaptive capacity of natural resources dependent communities particularly fishers and food growers.
Waqar Hussain Phulpoto, Additional Director Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), gave an overview of the SEPA. He shared that they were working to mitigate the effects of climate change by adopting 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) concept.
He underscored the need for promoting sustainable development and engaging youth in initiatives to address the climate change issue. He appreciated the efforts of WWF-Pakistan towards building coastal climate resilience and engaging youth in such events.
Sugara Hajani, a 70-year local from Kakapir, Karachi who is taking care of mangroves nursery at Sandspit, shared that coastal women were well aware of the fact that their survival depended on the mangrove forests which protected them from natural calamities and were an important source of fisheries.
Each disaster is leading rural communities further down towards poverty and hunger and eventually displacement. There is a need to focus on the climate change issue and for this purpose Oxfam campaigns for climate actions and work with like-minded partners such as WWF-Pakistan to bring the voice of affected communities into provincial, national and international platforms.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed.