‘Pakistan among top two countries most affected by climate change’

Karachi

Despite producing a negligible amount of greenhouse gases – basic cause of climate change - Pakistan ranked second in the list of countries most affected by climate change, stated director Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) Naeem Mughal on Monday.

Addressing a group of school children at Naunehal Assembly on the topic of climate change and importance of trees, Mughal said the country faced a loss of Rs365 billion rupees annually owing to problems generating from changes in climate.

The director stated that intensity of the problem could be gauged from the fact that even the Sindh government had to spend an additional amount of Rs10 billion on health problems emanating due to environmental degradation.

The entire country was facing
extreme weather conditions, super floods, prolonged droughts and other natural disasters due in addition to a massive economic loss due to climate change.

The chief of the provincial environmental watchdog claimed that factories were putting in their industrial waste into rivers and canals, sewage waste was being dumped into sea without treatment, while sources of freshwater were also contaminated, causing problems for both humans and environment.

However, he added that Sepa
was doing whatever it had within its
capacity to stop these anti-environment acts.

Mughal spoke of the tree-cutting mafia which had caused deforestation in the entire province, including Karachi where citizens had been deprived of shade and oxygen.

He further claimed that action was being taken against those involved in the merciless cutting of trees.

He appreciated the group of students to have gathered on the issue and urged the Hamdard Foundation to promote plantations by children.

President of the foundation, Sadia Rashid, deplored the senseless cuttings of trees despite the country being in dire need of more and more greenery.    

She also urged students to plant saplings and take care of plants and trees as they were immensely important for life and added that it was each and every citizen’s responsibility to look after the environment.