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About the workshop At the recently concluded UN Climate Conference 2009 held in Copenhagen, Nobel Laureate Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, called upon South Asian countries, particularly India and Pakistan, to work together to tackle climate change. He said countries in the Asian sub-region would be facing severe consequences, which included water shortages. Dr Pachauri said the subcontinent must rise above divisive issues and adopt a common position to address climate change impacts. Climate change will impact the South Asian region in a number of ways. Water supplies will be greatly impacted not just by retreating glaciers, but more broadly by changes in snowmelt and precipitation patterns (especially the monsoon). Indeed, it is the change in precipitation (not just temperatures) which is helping to drive deglaciation, as in many areas more ice is ablating from glaciers than is being added to them. Experts point out that Pakistan will soon be a water stressed country. The majority of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on a single river system, the Indus, and is therefore highly vulnerable. The Indus water treaty with India has withstood three wars if you count Kargil, but given the prospect of acute water shortages on both sides, will the treaty hold up in the years to come? There are already serious water distribution problems within Pakistan. Further water shortages will have inter-provincial consequences and regional consequences. It will be a serious issue in Indo-Pak relations. Increasingly low and erratic rainfalls, coupled with the drying up of water resources through increased regional temperatures will place greater strain on already stressed environments and increase desertification. Crop yields are projected to decrease by the end of this century, threatening local food security. While the media in regional countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives is already aware of climate change and its impact on their countries, Pakistan is lagging behind in its coverage of climate change issues. We are too focused on extremism/terrorism right now and it is taking a lot of our attention, resources and time. Our media space is also taken up by governance issues and the economic problems we are currently facing. Journalists in Pakistan are not reporting on climate change and the serious water shortages in store for the country and region since they are just not aware of the science behind climate change, future projections by scientists and what is happening at the global level. For example, there were dozens of journalists from India, Bangladesh and Nepal in Copenhagen reporting on the negotiations and just one print journalist and one electronic journalist from Pakistan. What is needed is more awareness on climate change issues in Pakistan. There have only been a handful of workshops highlighting these issues in the country and unfortunately not one has focused on water and trans-boundary issues. It is time now for a workshop that would bring together Indian and Pakistani journalists to discuss how water scarcity will affect their region and what can be done at a local and regional level to conserve water and use it more efficiently. Journalists can better inform the public on both sides of the border and help search for common solutions instead of further aggravating the tense situation. It would also be good for them to network amongst themselves and help each other with information/stories in the future. Through an interactive participatory learning approach, the participants will be sensitized on various issues. Activities include interactive talks/discussions, presentations, group work, case studies, a video documentary and a field visit to Murree, to the Patriata area where the UNDP's GEF small grants programme has a project on conservation of rainwater and planting of fruit trees (climate change mitigation). Patriata was also the site of the proposed New Murree Project which was successfully halted by environmental lobbying since the Patriata area is a reserve forest and catchment area. This makes it a good case study - how NGOs, the Pakistani media and the judiciary came together to halt a development project that would have disrupted freshwater supply downstream. |
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