KARACHI: The unsustainable use and production of plastics poses a serious threat to the environment, wildlife, ecosystems and human health, speakers warned on Saturday.
Pakistan faces worrying trends of an increased of plastic production and its disposal, they told a media training workshop organized by Green Media Initiatives (GMI) with Engro Foundation and WWF-Pakistan at a local hotel.
The event, which was held in connection with the World Environment Day 2023 on the theme of “Beat Plastic Pollution”, also aimed to help media participants develop evidence-based environmental stories depicting the adverse impacts of the plastics.
The workshop emphasized on the role of media in highlighting the challenges posed by plastics in country.
Speakers underscored the need for implementation of laws and regulations about production and use of plastics across cities and rural areas in Pakistan.
Shabina Faraz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Green Media Initiatives (GMI) and environmental journalist, said that women are at a greater risk of experiencing the adverse impacts of plastic pollution in Pakistan.
She also said that marine pollution, for example, poses enormous health threat to women living and working near coastal belt of Sindh and Balochistan.
She emphasized on the need to develop capacity of the journalists to develop field stories which highlight the health impacts and help sensitize the policymakers and relevant government agencies to take pragmatic steps to address these challenges.
“It is high time to develop actionable plans and initiate massive campaigns to address the issue of plastic pollution,” she added.
Favad Soomro, Head of Engro Foundation, cited the UN that over 3.3 million tons of plastic waste ends up in landfills or unmanaged dumps each year in Pakistan, which damages the environment and people’s health.
“At Engro, we are striving to solve some of Pakistan’s most pressing issues,” he said that therefore, the Engro Circular Plastics Program was launched, which is partnering with academia, social entrepreneurs and grassroots organizations to promote a circular economy of plastics in the country.
Jawad Umer Khan, Manager Marine Programme, WWF-Pakistan said that under this year’s theme for Beat Plastic Pollution, we need to re -imagine, restore and recreate nature.
The society needs to make a commitment towards reducing plastic consumption, opt for recycling and reuse of plastic and move towards more biodegradable options.
“Let’s get together to plant more trees, making our cities green, change our diets and clean up our oceans, rivers and coasts to develop and promote a plastic-free environment,” he added.
Professor, Dr Muhammad Khurram from National Centre of AI and Smart City Lab, NED University said that government should implement rules and regulations.
There should be efforts to evolve policies to create awareness among common people and the stakeholders including relevant government agencies, civil society organizations, media, industry and academia must join hands in efforts to control and reduce plastic pollution from our country.
While, Amir Latif, senior journalist from Anadolu Agency (AA) said that induction of more journalists, particularly females into the environmental journalism will significantly increase coverage levels of environment related issues in the mainstream and unconventional media.
“One of the major concerns of plastic waste is how it is putting both humans and wildlife in grave danger since in most cases marine and other animals ingest plastic,” he said.
Every piece of plastic ever made still exists somewhere in the world and we need to play our role individually in protecting the planet from becoming one big plastic waste dump, he said.
The organizers appealed other organizations and public to join the efforts to keep the environment safe and clean.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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