Conference on climate emergency and urban transportation

World leaders gathering in Dubai for COP-28 this year to fully support Pakistan due to its serious climate risk: UAE Consul General

Karachi: The concerned world community assembling at the United Nations Climate Change Conference-2023 (COP-28) to be held in Dubai later this year is sure to provide special financial assistance to Pakistan keeping in view its serious vulnerability due to extreme weather conditions.

The assurance to this effect was given by the Consul General of the UAE, Bakheet Ateeq Al Remeithi while speaking as the chief guest at the conference on “Adapting urban transportation to climate change” organized by the National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH). 

The UAE diplomat told the audience that he had been personally a witness to the massive impact of the phenomenon of climate change on Pakistan during his years-long stay in the country. 

He said the heads of state, senior relevant authorities, and environmental experts belonging to various countries soon gathering in Dubai for COP-28 had no option other than taking into account Pakistan’s serious vulnerability due to climate change.

Remeithi said the concerned world community would surely provide a sizable portion of the global budget meant for tackling the climate emergency in Pakistan owing to the massive destruction caused by events like floods, heavy rains, and heat waves. 

He assured the audience that the UAE rulers would fully support Pakistan’s case in this regard as they had always come to the support of the suffering and underprivileged Pakistani brethren after every disastrous event.

The UAE diplomat said that he had been following up on a daily basis to ensure that the Pakistani government actively took part in the upcoming COP-28 to effectively highlight the country’s climate risk vulnerability before the concerned world community.

“I consider that the deliberations and recommendations of today’s conference are a step forward towards Pakistan gearing up for an active participation in COP-28,” said Remeithi.

He suggested that the concerned non-governmental organizations should hold more such conferences to highlight the environmental challenges of Pakistan and their possible solutions.

Speaking as the guest honour, the CEO of Indus Hospital, Dr Abdul Bari Khan, said that environmental degradation in the last few years had massively affected the physical and mental health of Pakistanis.

He said that improvement of the environmental conditions would go a long way in keeping Pakistanis healthy and lessening the massive public spending to tackle a number of diseases and health issues which are directly linked to the environment.

Former Sindh government’s Environment and Forests Secretary, Shamsul Haq Memon, hoped that modern mass transit facilities being developed in large cities of Pakistan including Karachi in the form of bus rapid transit system (BRTS) and urban rail service would be highly helpful in tackling the environmental emergency.

He said that in addition to building BRTS in Karachi the public transport facilities in small cities and towns of Sindh should also be upgraded where motorcycle rickshaw service had created a serious traffic mess on roads.

 Noted businessman, Mian Zahid Hussain, assured on behalf of the industrialists in the city that they would do their best to adhere to the environmental safety protocols for tackling the prevailing climate emergency in Pakistan.

Abdul Aziz, BRTS General Manager in Karachi, told the audience that funding requirement was a major challenge for the government in building modern mass transportation facilities in large cities. For this reason, foreign donor agencies including World Bank and Asian Development Bank were involved in such projects, he added.

He said the Green Line BRTS functional in Karachi with its state-of-the-art bus fleet and paperless ticketing system had been contributing well to improving environmental issues in the city including the problem of traffic congestion.

Environmentalist, Syed Omar Arif, said that mass transit systems should be expeditiously built in cities like Karachi as harmful vehicular emissions massively degenerated the environment.

Ashar Lodhi, a senior engineering consultant, said the BRTS fully functional in Karachi would provide massive relief to Karachiites by mitigating the traffic and pollution problems of the city.

Shabina Faraz, an environmental journalist, emphasized that the planning for modern transportation systems should take into account the daily commuting requirements of woman workforce and students.

Sindh Government’s Energy Secretary, Abu Bakar Madni, praised NFEH for regularly holding conferences on environmental issues.

NFEH President, Naeem Qureshi, thanked the UAE Consul General for attending the event and reaffirming the commitment of the brotherly Islamic country to provide the fullest assistance for tackling the climate emergency in Pakistan.

He said the NFEH would continue to hold more such conferences to dwell upon the climate emergency and environmental challenges of Pakistan.

NFEH Secretary-General Ruqiya Naeem in her vote of thanks said that her NGO would further accelerate its tree plantation drive in Karachi and other cities by involving concerned stakeholders in increasing green cover in the country. 

Also on the occasion, some 80 companies were awarded Annual Environment Excellence Awards for their exceptional performance in tackling the climate emergency. Seven organizations were given special awards for their active tree plantation campaigns.

On this occasion Dr. Kasier Waheed, Engr. Nadeem Ashraf, Engr. Irfan Ahmad, Bilawal Suhag and others also addressed.