Public-private partnership stressed for Green Pakistan campaign goals

Islamabad: The Clean and Green Pakistan campaign's goals can only be achieved through public-private partnership and chambers of commerce and industry can play a vital role in bridging the gap.

This was stated by State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul addressing traders at the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The minister said all-out efforts were being made to make the Clean and Green Pakistan campaign successful.

She said pollution was one of the main issues that the PTI government aims at tackling through initiatives like the Clean and Green Pakistan campaign. The minister said the government had launched 10 billion trees Tsunami project on patron of the Billion Trees Project of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which would play a crucial role in tackling climate change issues in Pakistan.

She said the Clean and Green Pakistan campaign was launched by the prime minister in October and the Ministry of Climate Change is coordinating its implementation with all the provinces including Azad Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

She lauded the RCCI efforts in promoting business activities in the region and also appreciated its key initiatives under Corporate Social Responsibility including plantation of 50,000 tree samplings, RCCI Dastarkhan and medical dispensary. The minister welcomed the RCCI's key suggestions for better environment like inspection of commercial and private vehicles, identification of long survival trees along with area climate, ownership and water conservation.

Earlier, RCCI President Malik Shahid Saleem said traders were ready to join hands with the government for its efforts to address climate change through various steps including tree plantation, ban on plastic bags and use of renewable energy.

He said the RCCI through its industry-academia linkage programme would initiate awareness campaign and would organise seminars and workshop to make Pakistan greener. He said Pakistan was seventh in the list of ten countries which had been badly affected by the climate change.

"The remedy to mitigate the impact of climate change undoubtedly lies in planting more and more trees," he said. The minister said about six to 10 degree centigrade temperature could be reduced in different parts of the country by planting trees following the international concept of urban forestry. Later, State Minister Zartaj Gul planted a sapling at the chamber lawn to mark the 50,000 number under its plantation drive.