Youth role sought in shaping climate policies

PESHAWAR: Chief Information Commissioner of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission, Farah Hamid Khan, has said that youth can play a vital role in shaping evidence-based climate policies by exercising their Right to Information (RTI), which can help address the impacts of climate change.

She was speaking at the closing ceremony of the “Youth Climate Education and Fellowship Programme on Climate Governance” here on Thursday. The fellowship is a collaborative initiative by Transparency International-Pakistan and the University of Peshawar.

Farah Hamid said that Right to Information is a crucial tool for students and researchers to access data on emissions, government spending and the environmental impacts of policies. “RTI can uncover essential information and highlight gaps or deficiencies in current climate policies, making it an effective instrument for climate advocacy,” she added.

The ceremony was also attended by Afrasyab Khattak, chief of Environment and Climate Change at the Planning and Development Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr Shakil Khan, Director of the Business Incubation Centre, Dr Bushra Khan, Prof at the Department of Environmental Sciences, faculty members and students.

The chief commissioner further said that RTI could ensure transparent climate governance. She stressed that RTI also enables citizens to hold governments and organizations accountable for their climate-related commitments and actions.