National Assembly Speaker, Asad Qaiser, on Friday, noted that the world was experiencing diverse impacts of climate change more than ever.
It was important to empower people to become a part of climate change initiatives, he added He said this during a message given to commemorate the occasion of ‘Earth Hour’ over the world on March 30.
The speaker maintained that people were on the frontlines of climate change. The earth hour was said to serve as a reminder that individual and global community actions could prove to be a milestone in transforming climate challenges and protecting the generations to come. Stressing the need for joint efforts to make the environment free of pollution, the speaker added that we should join this movement to show our commitment to the planet.
Speaker Qaiser highlighted that various environment-friendly initiatives had already been taken at the parliament.
He asserted that Pakistan’s experience should also be emulated by the global community to address genuine climate concerns.
The speaker remarked that in pursuant to reduce emissions, Pakistan’s parliament had become the first ever parliament to be completely powered by solar energy. Under the ‘Net-Metering License’ the parliament had contributed surplus electricity to the national grid, he added
Pakistan’s Vision 2025 was said to have considered climate change as one of the top national priorities, providing a sound base to the integration of climate change budgeting into national development planning. Endorsing Earth Hour, the speaker highlighted that the lights of the parliament would be switched off between 8 30 pm to 9:30 pm to show commitment to energy conservation, and the fight against climate change and Global warming.