Cycle rally held to raise awareness of climate justice

KARACHI: A group of cyclists, particularly girls, hailing from the coastal neighbourhood of Ibrahim Hyderi took part in a cycle rally on Sunday to raise awareness about climate justice among the youth.

Yasmeen Shah, convener of the Pakistan Eco-social Movement (PESM), led the rally to make the local fisherfolk community aware of the harmful impacts of LNG projects on marine ecology as well as on the overall climate and environment.

The participants held banners and placards demanding an end to the use of fossil fuels that destroy the climate and the environment. They also raised the issue of rapid mangrove deforestation due to the plans to instal a gas pipeline in the sea.

PESM team members told the participants that the use of LNG for generating electricity has further aggravated the climate. They said that Pakistan is among the top 10 countries where forests are being rapidly destroyed. The effluent from coal and LNG plants in the coastal belt of Karachi is being dumped into the sea, and that is contaminating the ocean and marine resources, they added.