Manend Team 
ISLAMABAD, (MANEND NEWS): Enhanced global and regional
cooperation could play critical role to respond to growing challenges
emanating from climate change. Developed countries should come
forward to support developing countries for the clean and green
recovery. The environmentalists and climate change experts said this
while sharing their views with the audience at special webinar on
‘World Earth Day, climate crisis and the road to Glasgow,’ held here by
the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in connection with
the World Earth Day.
Director Climate Program, World Resources Institute (WRI)-India, Ms
Ulka Kelkar, on the occasion said that this earth day was precedented
by the pandemic, locust attack and a devastating super cyclone in
India and Bangladesh. The challenge for south Asian countries is to
develop a low-carbon infrastructure to rely on for a sustainable growth
in the future and they need technologies for their climate adaptation
and for taping on their renewable energy resources.
She emphasized that “the implementation of the climate action will
have to happen at local and sectoral level and thus, local stake holders
need to be supported.” Likewise, the climate change budget and
climate change finance need to be trickle down to the local level. She
added.
Director, International Center for Climate Change and Development,
Dhaka, Dr. Saleemul Haq, lamented that no tangible action has been
seen in the past 25 years to respond to the climate change. He
emphasized that the SAARC platform and the regional research think
tanks working on climate change should join hands for crafting a
regional climate action plan for a better and sustainable future.
Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI, highlighted that the
earth day is being marked again amidst the pandemic and signifies the
need of a greater preparedness. He was of view that the developing
countries need to come up with a collective agenda and push the
greater emitters for low carbon initiatives.
“The clean and green recovery and growth in the developing countries
could be made possible only with the help of the developed countries
and by creating a green climate fund,” Dr. Suleri said and added
further that the road to Glasgow should be coming up with our own
indigenous agenda for clean and green recovery.
Climate Scientist, Dr. Fahad Saeed, was of the view that there is need
to translate the climate change science into local languages to make it
more effective at the local levels. He suggested that we need to strike
a delicate balance between ambitious climate action as set by the
developed countries and to ensure a sustainable economic growth.
Dr. Imran Khalid, Research Fellow at SDPI, while covering diverse
aspects of the topic said that climate change is a reality, and we need
concrete and tangible steps to cope up with its impacts.