Call to protect masses from climate change
By: Bhagwandas
KARACHI: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday said that a large number of developing countries, including Pakistan, were to suffer owing to climate change despite the fact that their small industrial base did not contribute substantially to global warming.
The seminar on ‘Climate change: impacts on livelihood, marine and coastal resources’ was organised jointly by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and the National Council for Environment Journalists (NCEJ) at the Karachi Press Club.
They said that the masses living in the poorer countries would be severe victims of the climate change, as their governments would not be able to provide them required protection.
The event, which was part of activities related to a global ‘week of action for climate justice’, was focused on the overall situation of the depleting natural resources and vulnerabilities of indigenous communities living in rural areas, forests along lakes and the coasts of Pakistan.
Quoting the impacts of cyclones, tsunami, floods, droughts and hurricanes, Seed Baloch of the PFF said that these countries had learned lessons from effects and prepared more to avert the losses. “But as compared to the world, we do not have serious efforts to initiate adaptation measures with the involvement of communities.”
He said that although Pakistan had a climate change policy, it was yet to be implemented. Zulfiqar Shah of Piler said that nearly 30 million people of Sindh lived in rural areas and they were more vulnerable to the effects of disasters, depletion of resources and poverty.
He said that about 18 million people lived below the poverty line and were facing food shortage. “They do not even have access to potable water.” He said that a change in the monsoon pattern was also impacting on the poor segments of the society, mostly indigenous communities, herders, farmers and fishermen.
He said three million fishermen depended on fishing, living on incomes from marine and inland waters. Similarly, majority of rural communities depended on cultivation, but due to soil infertility they were facing food insecurity, he added.
Nadia Bajwa of the World Wide Fund-Pakistan said that her organisation was conducting a coastal community vulnerability assessment to learn from community experiences regarding visible changes related to the climate.
She said that Pakistan ranked 16th on the world index of the impacts of climate change mapping. A community leader from Ibrahim Haidery, Majeed Motani, said that marine pollution was increasing, affecting sources of livelihood of small scale fishermen.
“There is no more fish along the beaches and fishermen are losing their traditional sources of income. Fishermen are demanding the government to avoid releasing industrial waste into the sea without treatment, but the polluters are stronger,” he added.
NCEJ chief Amar Guriro said that the country was facing a loss of Rs365 billion annually due to depleting ecology.
Apart from this, he said Pakistan did not have a policy to mitigate the effects of natural calamities. Due to change in rain pattern, the country was experiencing flood disasters for the last three years and had lost infrastructure and sources of livelihoods, he added.
Earlier, Jamil Junejo, Mustafa Gurgaiz and others also spoke at the event.
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