British HC empowers Pakistani media amid monsoon devastation

Islamabad: As Pakistan grapples with deadly monsoon floods and a projected $1.2 trillion cost of climate inaction, the British High Commission has launched a nationwide climate journalism training initiative to empower media professionals to drive awareness and action.

The training will spotlight the crucial role journalists play in encouraging climate action. Journalists can spotlight climate change solutions, encourage climate action, and can help their readers and viewers to understand how climate change affects them.

Deputy Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy, Sneha Lala, said that the cost of inaction on climate change in Pakistan is $1.2 trillion by 2050. Within that figure is countless lives lost, countless numbers of people pushed into poverty, and countless livelihoods lost. It can be a bleak picture, but climate journalism is at the heart of showing us that there is another option. Climate journalism can incentivise action, spotlight solutions, and create change.

Having delivered trainings to the journalists of leading media houses including Geo News, Daily Jang and The News in Islamabad, the High Commission will now travel to Lahore and Karachi, to continue their training programme.

British High Commission will be joined by a number of Chevening alumni, who honed their climate expertise through the prestigious scholarship where they studied a master’s qualification in the UK. This includes Syed Muhammad Abubakar, Environmental Journalist and PhD Scholar at George Mason University, US; Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General WWF Pakistan; and Sana Munir, Director of Local Government Audit.

They will also be joined by Muhammad Talal, senior sub-editor of Samaa digital, and Muhammad Asim Siddique, General Manager Samaa digital, both alumni of the High Commission’s Chevening climate mentorship programme. They have been supported by Adil Shahzeb, who has shared his insights on integrating climate stories into Dawn’s primetime show, ‘Live with Adil Shahzeb’.

Leo Hickman, editor and director of the Carbon Brief, is supporting the training programme. The High Commission will run a competition for all training participants. Journalists will submit their best climate story, and the winner will receive mentorship from Hickman.