A three-day workshop on natural disasters and environmental reporting arranged by DW Academy (DWA) and Radio News Network (RNN) has concluded. In this workshop, selected journalists reporting on environmental issues from Sindh, Punjab, KP, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan were taught and briefed on the skills of constructive reporting on natural disasters and Climate change and were given an opportunity to hear the opinions of experts regarding climate change
Atif Tauqeer, Atif Baloch and Dina Selbeck from DW Academy explained to the journalists the methods of reporting on various environmental topics and the principles of being constructive and as well as, the importance of scientific data in constructive reporting was also explained. The participants were divided into different groups and engaged in various practical activities. Dina Sibulak said that the world is threatened by climate change and Pakistan is the eighth affected country, where there will be more problems due to the increase in temperature in the future.
Therefore, there is a need for more awareness in Pakistan on this issue. According to Dina, only 30 percent of people in Pakistan are educated about climate change and its effects, while 70 percent of the country’s population is ignorant on this issue. The workshop also created the Constructive Climate Journalism Network (CCNJ), a network of radio, print and digital media platforms to share environmental issues and threats. So that more people can be informed.
On the first day of the workshop, Lt. General (retd) Nadeem Ahmed, an expert on disaster management and climate change in Pakistan, informed and briefed the participants about the rapidly changing environmental situation and said that Pakistan is the fifth most affected by climate change and global temperature. It is a country where people, wildlife and aquatic life are affected due to natural calamities, rains and floods for the past few years. He said that where we are suffering from this global problem, the district institutions working on the environment are also suffering from slowness in management, reporting and identification of risks, which is a sad fact. On the second day of the workshop, Nisar A. Memon, former Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and Chairman Water Forum Pakistan, while talking about climate change and the threats facing the Indus Delta, said that the Indus River is not just a river but it is a necklace of many civilizations. It has a history of seven thousand years and four countries are fully or partially benefiting from it.