Daily Times

It wasn’t until 2009, at the COP15 in Copenhagen, that the participation of civil society and academia in climate talks was galvanised. Since then, the conventional model of multilateralism, where country delegations talk to each other and non-state actors observe these negotiations, has moved towards an increasingly inclusive space. National regional, and local delegates are now encouraged to interact with non-state actors in a more collaborative way. Engaging communities in efforts to act on climate change is particularly more important in a country like Pakistan. Pakistan is a country faces multiple challenges including terrorism, socioeconomic and political instability and the government barely has enough resources to address the most urgent challenge of Climate Change. This year Pakistan experienced record high temperature exceeding 52 Celsius and widespread droughts in interior Sindh. Given the urgent nature of the challenge of climate change experts calls for engagement with impact from all walks of life.

Climate change is a most urgent challenge, it is real and happening. There have been various initiatives taken by civil society in most vulnerable areas. One notable initiative by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s government called Billion Tree Tsunami was acknowledged by Bonn Challenge. The Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2017 illustrates how Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the only province or sub-national entity from Pakistan became a part of the Bonn Challenge. Set up in 2011, the Bonn Challenge calls for the restoration of 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land by 2020.

There is no shortage of academics, including many students volunteering their participation in climate change adaptation efforts. At the Institute of Management Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan faculty, staff and students started a campaign to create awareness among natives about critical importance of acting on climate change.

Prof Dr Nauman Abbasi, the Director IMS advocated for the use of the best available information resource and encouraged the faculty to educate students about climate change issue and the need for broader public engagement for adaption.

Acknowledging the efforts of the Institute of Management Sciences, the Vice Chancellor BZU Prof. Dr. Tahir Amin encouraged academics from other faculties including science, technology, engineering, mathematics, social sciences and humanities to engage in climate change related research projects to inform climate policy at national level.

IMS engagement efforts not just limited to merely telling success stories. The director of IMS invited the local business community to interact with students and discuss various plans to act on climate change. One such plan is continuing plantation in the university and surrounding areas. Initially, faculty, students and local business community planted some 10,000 trees. Khawaja Muhammad Anees, Director Mehmood Group of Companies, also member of IMS alumni committed support from Mehmood Group. He also promised to bring other local firms to join and to further expand the scope of plantation drive. For students this engagement with impact made them feel excited about their contribution and for professors, these initiatives provide an opportunity to have experiential education, and to design curricula around the climate change efforts.

Academia has already started its efforts to effectively learn how to adapt to the impacts of climate change, the local and provincial governments should also join hands to further expand the scope of these activities

The director IMS while addressing to students at the start of plantation drive emphasised on further expanding engagement beyond the university. He particularly highlighted the importance of engaging with people living in most vulnerable areas such as those living in slumps and areas close to river Chenab and Head Muhammad Wala. The academia has already started its efforts to effectively learn how to adapt to the impacts of climate change, the local and provincial governments should also join hands to further expand the scope of these activities.

In addition, media should also cover such activities and events.  Journalists need to engage with academic experts so as to keep themselves updated about the issue of climate change. It may be worthwhile for the government and related authorities to assist building an informed expert resource critical for creating public awareness about the issue of climate change.

The writer is Lecturer at IMS, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan and research fellow in The University of Queensland Australia and works on Climate Change adaptation. He can be reached at s.shahzad@buisness.uq.edu.au and tweets @Alluring_Will

Published in Daily Times, August 7^th 2018.