Earth Day marked with pledge to promote environmental literacy

Over the last couple of years, humans have been breaking the temperature record — the wrong kind of record to beat — with each subsequent year being declared hotter than the preceding one. 

The situation has deteriorated to an alarming point and only proper education and increased awareness could enable humans to protect the Earth’s remaining environment and resources.

These words of caution were shared by Hammad Naqi Khan, WWF-Pakistan’s director general, at an event organised to mark ‘Earth Day’, observed globally on April 22 to refresh mankind’s commitment to keeping the planet safe from pollution. This year, the campaign’s focus is ‘Environmental and Climate Literacy’.

“With quality education, we can inspire action towards environmental protection and sensitise people to adopt green technologies,” Khan said, adding that people need to understand the need to switch to alternative energy, discontinue use of plastic bags, conserve freshwater bodies and use natural resources effectively. 

 It is time to take environmental and climate issues seriously and mobilise people to develop public momentum to mitigate greenhouse emissions, increase tree cover, reduce pollution and protect endangered species, he added.

“Environmental education should be a compulsory subject and taught in schools across the country,” Khan suggested.

SEPA event

Due to adverse effects of human activity, the Earth is turning into an “unliveable place” not only for humans, but also for the millions of plant and animal species that inhabit it, said experts at an event organised by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi.

Environmentalists, journalists, students, artists, civil society members, government officials and corporate leaders attended the event and pledged their commitment on protecting the planet.

In addition to raising environmental awareness, practical measures to protect the ever-worsening environment are equally urgent, said Sindh Environment Secretary Zameer Ahmed Khan while addressing the audience.

He urged the audience to avoid doing things which pollute the environment. ”Planet Earth is the only liveable planet in the universe so we don’t have any choice if it becomes uninhabitable,” he added.

Shahid Lutfi, an environmentalist, said that unplanned development had nearly pushed the environment to disaster and that the future could only be safeguarded through sustainable development practices. 

Social activist Ayub Shaikh said that there is no need for aliens to come and destroy the world as humans are doing a good enough job as it is. “We must wake up,” he added.

Participants at other Earth Day activities pledged to plants more trees in their homes and neighbourhoods.