Islamabad leadership pledges to keep city clean, green 

Islamabad

New city leadership pledged to keep Islamabad clean and green at the culmination of a campaign titled: ‘Clean Today Save Tomorrow’ organised by youth representatives on Tuesday.

With the pledge to keep the federal capital clean, Deputy Mayor of Islamabad Syed Zeshan Naqvi also called upon the youth to carry out such activities twice in a month. The campaign was organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s (SDPI) Pakistan Youth Climate Change Network (PYCN) to mark the World Environment Day.

The campaign led by the deputy mayor is aimed at engaging young generation in pro-environment activities and to create awareness among common masses about the importance of healthy and clean environment.

Participants joined the campaign at Trail-5 of Margalla Hills, which is also a popular picnic spot. The deputy mayor thanked the SDPI’s PYCN and the participating students for organising the campaign and urged them to regularly organise such activities in future.

Speaking on the occasion, SDPI Senior Research Associate Shakeel Ahmed Ramay said that it is the responsibility of every citizen to keep the city environment and surroundings neat and clean.

PYCN President Yasir Dil said sustainable development is largely linked with the youth and without engaging youth in our plan and policies, we cannot foresee a sustainable future. He said the youth should take part and lead such activities to help shape out a sustainable future. “PYCN provides a platform to engage those youth in pro-environment activities, who want to bring change,” he added.

The World Environment Day is an annual feature started in 1973 by the United Nations General Assembly to raise global awareness about the importance of maintaining a healthy and green environment. This year the theme "Go Wild for Life" highlights the fight against illegal trade in wildlife, which erodes precious biodiversity and threatens the survival of elephants, rhinos and tigers, as well as many other species. It also undermines our economies, communities, and security.