Daily Times

KARACHI: The nature conservationists and environmental experts have emphasized the need to initiate joint efforts to promote sustainable development and climate friendly policies that can help promote renewable energy and contribute to low carbon emissions in Karachi.

The speakers during an inaugural session of the two-day workshop organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan on Thursday said that Karachi needs to increase renewable energy contribution to mitigate climate change.

The workshop aimed to build capacity of relevant government departments and other stakeholders on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory development, it’s reporting as well as highlight the efforts of climate change adaptation and mitigation related initiatives of the Karachi city to a global platform – carbonn Climate Registry (cCR). This information would later help city to get the registered to the One Planet City Challenge (OPCC), a global initiative of WWF, to recognize and reward cities that are busy making themselves climate friendly.

This event was organised as part of the project titled ‘introducing renewable energy solutions to enhance energy security and build climate resilience in Karachi,’ which is being implemented by WWF-Pakistan in collaboration with WWF-Sweden and K-Electric in selected union councils of Karachi. The overall aim of this project is to enhance energy security and climate resilience of the city through promotion of renewable and alternate energy options.

Speaking on the occasion, Arshad Vohra, Deputy Mayor Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) said that it is certainly a good step towards making Karachi climate resilient. Karachi is already a member of C40 but no concrete measures have been taken during the last decade for its implementation. He was of the view that greenhouse emissions produced by different sectors should be calculated to support informed decision making. He also agreed to set-up a task force at the KMC to help report and register city’s climate change mitigation initiatives to the OPCC portal and cCR.

Speaking on the occasion, Ali Dehlavi, Regional Head Sindh and Balochistan, WWF-Pakistan said Karachi citizens are currently facing large scale environmental challenges including energy crisis, industrial and household waste, scarcity of drinking water, lack of green spaces and uneven rainfall patterns. He was of the view that it is the right time for the city to shift to green technologies adoption that can help reduce GHGs emission.

Pamela Cabacungan, Project Officer – Mitigation, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Southeast Asia Secretariat (SEAS), the lead trainer of the workshop shared that climate change is not an isolated subject but it affects productivity and functions of different sectors. She was of the view that one cannot formulate actions until rudimentary data about climate change is obtained. For tackling climate change, Karachi should increase its share of renewable energy, promote sustainable public transportation, avoid deforestation and ensure efficient waste management among others.

The officials from KMC, K-Electric, Planning and Development Department, Civil Aviation Authority, Forests, Wildlife and Fisheries Departments, Sindh Energy Department, Agriculture and Research Department, National Institute of Oceanography, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Solid Waste Management Board, Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and others participated in the event.

Published in Daily Times, August 4^th 2017.