Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to affects of climate change but the country can cope with it by involving youth and civil society. This was stated by Netherlands Ambassador Marcel de Vink while speaking at an event 'Youth for Action on Climate Change', here at Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) on Thursday.
The event, organised by Oxfam, was well attended by students of different universities, civil society and journalists.
Vink said that Pakistan was an agricultural country and a large number of its population relied on a good yield of different crops. "Pakistani youth should actively participate in the activities aimed at mitigating impact of the climate change and deal with the increasing threat of food security," he added.
He said that climate change was not only impacting yield of different crops in different parts of the country but also speeding up glaciers' melting. "If the negative impacts of the climate change aren't addressed timely, Pakistan can be in a big trouble," he warned.
Quoting a Dutch adage, the ambassador said, "you need to fix the roof before rain comes."
Talking about his country, he said the Netherlands had been a leader in climate change negotiations and had also contributed a lot to research on causes and possible solutions to deal with the problem.
"Our government has also been helping Pakistani entrepreneurs and farmers to deal with the climate change," he said, adding that an experiment of salt-resistant potato cultivation in Depalpur, a district in Punjab, had been successful and it was sponsored by the Dutch government.
Speaking on the occasion, Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta, Director General at Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, said that Pakistan needed the participation of youth in efforts to deal with climate change much more than ever before.
"We are a glacier-fed country. We need to address the negative impacts of climate change to control speedy melting of the glaciers," he added.
If the mitigation efforts were not initiated at this stage, the climate change could wreak havoc across the country, he said, adding that Pakistan could not achieve its desired goals of mitigation without active involvement of youth and civil society.
Five major universities from Punjab and Sindh took part in the event while students of these universities also screened documentaries on the impacts of climate change.
The initiative is aimed at involving youth, media and civil society to address the negative impacts of climate change on food security and livelihood by creating awareness among general public, farmers and businessmen.
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