In an agro-based economy like Pakistan, rapid population growth is squeezing the resource base with increasing dependence on natural resources and lack of awareness is adding fuel to the fire in the shape of their over-exploitation, ultimately accelerating environmental degradation, said Environment Secretary Kamran Lashari.
He was addressing the participants of the seventh Pakistan Environmental Reporting Awards (Pera) ceremony held here on Wednesday to mark the Earth Day. Every year April 22 is being celebrated as "Earth Day" to create awareness and appreciation for the earth's environment among the masses.
The event was arranged to honour the winners of ACCA-WWF Pakistan Environmental Reporting Awards 2008. Head of Education Planning and Development of the ACCA Pakistan Dr Afia Sajjad, Director General of WWF Pakistan Ali Hassan Habib, Director of Freshwater and Toxics Programme of WWF Pakistan Hammad Naqi Khan, representatives of the Ministry of Environment and other concerned departments were present on the occasion.
Lashari said that currently Pakistan was facing a number of environmental challenges due to accelerated economic and demographic changes. "The country is also facing negative effects of climate change, such as glacial retreat, glacial lake outburst, droughts, flash floods, lack of proper waste management system and increasing contamination of water and air", he added.
Lashari said that the Ministry of Environment would work in collaboration with the industry to tackle the environmental issues. "Pakistan celebrates 2009 as National Year of the Environment. It is an opportunity for the government, public-private sector and the common people to work together to remove hindrances in the way of sustainable development", said Lasahri.
He urged the corporate sector to share the responsibility of environmental degradation and work for sustainable development an environmental conservation. He informed the participants that the environmental degradation was estimated to cause economics loss to the tune of Rs 365 billion per annum, which amounted to six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
"Pakistan is very much supportive of private section initiatives and is willing to work with the corporate sector to encourage the business community," he added. Earlier in her welcome note, Dr Afia Sajjad said: "The ACCA is heartened by the achievement of our award winners, and it is fantastic to see how many organisations, large and small, recognise the importance of sustainability and environmental reporting." Speaking on the occasion, Hammad Naqi Khan gave an overview of the awards signifying the growing awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility amongst corporations.
He said the awards ensured the companies target and improvements in the quality of information during the reporting process. Hence the awards helped businesses to streamline sustainable practices and development. Ali Hassan Habib said: "The Pera has come a long way in increasing environmental awareness in the corporate sector and even after seven years of presenting the awards, promoting sustainability will continue to be a key ACCA and WWF commitment." Later, awards were distributed among the following winners: Attock Refinery Ltd for Best Sustainability Report 2008; Pak Elektron Ltd for Best Environmental Report 2008 in the Local Listed Company Category; Hinopak Motors Ltd for Best Environmental Report 2008 in the Multinational Category.
Qarshi Industries Pvt Ltd was awarded commendation for showing its commitment and consistency to transparency in reporting. After awarding the awards, Lashari lauded the hard work of all the companies, which participated in the awards scheme.