KARACHI: The President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, Mian Zahid Hussain, has urged the federal and provincial governments to enhance funding for the environment in the budgets. He said environmental degradation was an important issue which could not be ignored anymore.
Speaking at a function organized on the World Environment Day, he said that the issue of environment had never been taken seriously which was damaging the health and life of the people and the economy.
"Climate change is a very serious threat as Pakistan has been declared among the top ten countries most affected by climate change. It is negatively impacting health, agriculture and overall economy of the country and ignoring it is a luxury we cannot afford anymore," he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that lack of reservoirs to store water, water issues with India, an old irrigation system, water wastages in domestic consumption and lack of awareness were reasons behind water scarcity.
Air pollution, poor waste management and population bomb were the major hurdles behind the availability of clean drinking water, he added.
Another issue was the increasing deforestation in the country due to energy crisis, commercial benefits and domestic use.
Although certain plans had been launched to increase forest coverage, yet their outcome was questionable at best.
Another issue that was devastating the environment was air pollution as there was no control over the release of toxic gases from factories, brick kilns, and carbon emissions from transport vehicles. Pakistan has all the environmental laws, but the government and people lacked the will to implement and follow those laws completely.
Waste management was also an area where we were lagging behind others. Factories and hospitals dumped thousands of tons of their waste into sea, lakes and rivers, which were a threat to aquatic and human life depending on these water resources.
The use of plastic bags was another challenge to the environment because a single plastic bag took hundreds of years to degrade.
These plastic bags soaring in the air, floating in water bodies and dumped on streets did not only offer unpleasant sights but were also threatening humans and other living organisms.
Increasing population and rising urbanization had been pressuring the government to provide more housing units, transportation, food and health facilities thus leading to the development of more concrete infrastructure.
Noise pollution was another problem for the environmental conservation efforts. Pressure horns and factories caused noise pollution.
Noise pollution could lead to psychological problems, disrupting social relationships.
He said that five principles should guide a green recovery which included supporting jobs, fostering new behaviours, enhancing resilience, embedding fairness and strengthening incentives to reduce emissions.
A green recovery was also what the world sorely needed as the economy was also a component of the ecosystem. Businessmen understood that the future of business depended on a green world.
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