ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar reiterated the commitment of the government to provide a healthy environment to future generations.
Addressing a ceremony of environmental awareness in Islamabad girls collage F-6/2, here Tuesday. She said the Global Climate Risk Index 1993-2012 has ranked Pakistan as the 12th most affected by extreme weather conditions. "This is a matter of concern for all of us and the Government was firm to resolve and improve the situation."
The minister said that a healthy environment can only guarantee healthy future hence it should be our collective responsibility to save our environment from all kinds of pollutants and adverse impacts of climate change.
She said climate change is one of the defining challenges of time. She said according to experts Pakistan has witnessed a 0.76?C rise in temperature during the last 40 years, but what is even more disturbing is the fact that mountainous areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral have seen an increase of 1.5C during this time period.
She said "We are concerned to note that this temperature increase is resulting in more heatwaves and will also affecting the country's water demand. She said experts predict that more than 40 per cent of the population in Pakistan is at risk of natural disasters such as droughts, floods and cyclones.
She said, it is also the responsibility of the community and civil society elders to enhance the knowledge and capacity of farming community for sustainable management of natural resources.
She said "I want to share with all of you that the Government with the assistance of UNDP is in final phase in developing and drafting Pakistan National Policy on National Climate Change. The New Climate Change Policy sets out priorities for Pakistan until 2030." She said that training to keep the environment clean and pollution free starts from home first but schools and teachers have a vital role to polish the children's habits.
She further said country's education systems need to be proactive in this regard. She added all schools should encourage the children to develop environment friendly habits through various curricular and extra-curricular activities.
She said "We are facing various problems and most of the issues are due to lack of civic education in the society. I am firm that such issues will only be solved if schools start to provide civic education to the children at early stage of their lives."
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