Reflections
International Participants Reflections
Mustapha Chouikha, Chairman LEAD - Tunisia
while elaborating the issues related to climate change during an exclusive interview, ascribed desertification as the major threat afflicting Tunisia. He said, “We are losing forests through desertification. From 1930-1980 our water resources remained uniform. Underground water in the wells and the capacity of water in our dams has reduced to 50 per cent” He informed that Tunisia launched tree plantation drives eight years ago. Stress is on planting palm and olive trees, adaptive to the climatic conditions. Industrialized countries like France, Italy and Spain, bordering Tunisia are the big polluters leading to climate change. The North is causing 20 times more pollution than the South. Solutions for climate change will emerge from the Northern countries. The hunger-struck cannot be stopped from cutting of trees, he lamented.
Chouikha elaborated that the predominantly oil producing OIC countries have the responsibility to collectively tackle the issue of climate change. The 57 OIC countries must formulate a strategy to counter and influence the North, for responsible environment friendly development. “At our end, we should educate our population on climate change issues. OIC countries at the higher level should lobby for the protection of their rights”, he continued.
The wars on Islamic countries like Iraq and Afghanistan have led to pollution. Higher carbon emissions through bombardment led to pollution and climate change. The effects of bombardment in Baghdad are three times more than the impacts of dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. He laid stress on implementing policies to address this issue. He felt it was high time to share experiences. Success stories of Tunisia should be shared with the success stories of the other OIC countries, he said.
Professor Yamin Wang from Shandong University – Weihai, China
ascribed high carbon emissions as the major factor for climate change. He said coal is used as fuel for cooking purposes in China. Fast industrial growth in China depends on the electricity generated from coal. As a result, the acid rains in most parts of China are severely damaging plants, soil and ecosystems. Climate change has triggered the frequency and intensity of floods. Most parts of China were affected by floods in the current year, after the earthquake. A big flood hit the Quang Dong province, a few days ago. Wang informed that the industrial chemical waste flowing into the rivers has damaged marine ecosystems. Deserts are expanding faster, owing to climate change. Afforestation campaigns are being launched in China for many years. Tree cutting is forbidden. Sea ice is disappearing in the North of China. Marine ecology is being lost. Marine animals’ habitat is being lost. China is suffering biodiversity loss at a very fast pace, owing to climate change. Baiji dolphin in the Yangtze river is already extinct.
Wang stated that climate change is an international affair. Acid rain can affect many countries. OIC countries neighbouring China can together protect the Himalayan forests. He advised the OIC countries to try to save power. “OIC countries and China can work together to devise a work plan on coping with climate change. Being in the same geographical zone, our problems are the same” he said. As China has a big Muslim population, Wang offered that it can assist OIC countries in fighting climate change through providing experts, scientists and technology from China.
Dr. Blessing Corie, Senior lecturer at the Federal College of Fisheries Economics - Nigeria
said that the coastal areas of Nigeria along the Atlantic ocean are being affected by occasional floods and land erosion, resulting in loss of property and lives. The southern part of Nigeria depends on rain-fed agriculture. The natural timings of rain have changed. The intensity of rain now is high and duration is short. Higher intensity of rainfall is leading to land erosion, especially in the eastern part. At times, it destroys houses and crops. Corie said that people have migrated owing to intense rains. Crop production has been adversely affected. Rains were late than usual, hence livelihoods were affected. The Nigerians face increased flooding in the south and high temperatures in the north. Floods lead to epidemic breakouts like malaria.
Describing the current scenario, Corie said that the government has not seriously enforced any policies on forestation. Nigeria faces droughts in the north. Desertification is gradually creeping in the northern part, leading to a decline in food production. Nomads are migrating to the southern part, with their animals. Plants are being infested with insects. Range land is being lost in the north. This has also led to the shortage of fuel wood. The environment related agreements signed by Nigeria on are not being effectively implemented. Oil companies working in Nigeria are still flaring gas. The Ozone layer is being destroyed. Good news is that Nigeria enjoys a widespread forest cover.
She felt that the OIC countries should share their knowledge and experience for fighting climate change. The developed world, she said, is more responsible for climate change, because it is utilizing more energy. Everybody can plant trees to fight climate change. Cooperation of OIC countries is very necessary, she stressed. “If we have to move forward, we have to cooperate. The global issue of climate change can be tackled effectively through regional level cooperation. There should be a balance between climate change and sustainable development. OIC countries should adapt to climate change through the sustainable use of energy and water” she said. “Plant trees” was her repeated message.
Jacques Van Zuydam, Chief Director Population & Development, Department of Social Development - South Africa
stated that strange occurrences are happening more frequently in South Africa. “We are suffering from extreme climatic conditions. We have coldest waves in some parts and extreme heat in the other parts. We were not used to such fluctuations. There is an anticipation that the average temperature in the warmer parts would rise” he said. Land area is becoming less suitable for the crops. The challenge of malaria is being reintroduced. The desertification problem persists for many decades; adversely affecting agricultural practices and production. Climate change is further accelerating desertification, in the mostly semi-arid land of South Africa. She said, the East Coast received highest rainfall, leading to floods. Over-population led to soil degradation. Over the past 15 years, extreme weather occurrences happened. “Our country has very less forest areas. Being mostly a semi arid country, we were not much affected by deforestation. South Africa generates the largest quantities of CO2 and GHG emissions, he continued. Elaborating, he said electricity is mainly produced from the burning of coal. Mining, steel and metal processing industries, running on electricity generated from the burning of coal are contributing to CO2 and GHG emissions.
Zuydem continued, “Although technically expensive, solar energy generation is the answer. There is a huge potential to utilize wind energy. One wind energy unit has been developed along the coast. Long-term plan is to generate hydro-electricity from the Congo river. It depends on the prevalence of peace and stability in the South African region”. Zuydem felt that the challenge for OIC countries is that they are widely spread over diverse geographical zones. He said, “We should look at the cultural practices. Electricity is very cheap in South Africa. This leads to wasteful consumption patterns. The domestic consumption of electricity can be minimized to 50 per cent, by shifting to solar energy. The need is to analyze the behaviour that contributes to climate change. What is required is to utilize the vehicles to communicate alternative practices.
Individual countries can learn by exchanging experiences with each other, through dialogue. By sharing ideas, practices and lessons, we can learn a lot. Exchange of expertise can help a lot in this regard. OIC is an open forum. Countries can learn at various levels. Cooperation of the 57 countries within OIC, can endow with practical skills. There will be no North-South debate at OIC forum. Climate change can be tackled through creating awareness and an ability to act in populations, through education. School education inculcates basic values and shapes behaviours about environmental protection and climate change, he stated.
Munjurul Hannan Khan – IUCN - Bangladesh
According to the 3rd and 4th IPCC report, Bangladesh will be mostly affected by climate change. Owing to its geographical location on the delta, Bangladesh is exposed to the floods, storms, cyclones, tornadoes and earthquakes. Bangladesh is most vulnerable to global warming, owing to rise in the sea level. Rain increases in the monsoon season, while there is no rain in winter season. The sea level rise of 1.5 meters could displace 22 million Bangladeshis. Their settlement on agricultural lands and loss of productive land to sea water would in turn lead to lower crop productivity and glaring food insecurity. Inundation of saline water can hence lead to biodiversity loss, resulting in the transformation of ecosystems into ecological deserts.
There is a huge impact of climate change on fishermen. Rough sea bars the fishermen from going to sea for fishing. Fishermen have begun to change their profession and are abandoning the coastal areas. They have started migrating to cities.
Bangladesh is a riverine country, with 3,000 rivers recorded officially. During monsoons, 80 per cent of Bangladesh is under water. We know how to live with water.
The question is how to handle the changing patterns of crops. Flowering patterns have changed, because of changing temperatures. There was no rice but only rice husk, because of unusual cloudy weather that led to greater humidity and high temperatures. There was very little pollination in many parts and lesser crop production. The patterns of wind have also changed. In another instance, the clouds that formed in Bangladesh were shifted by the winds from Gujrat to Karachi. This resulted in lower wheat production.
Bangladesh has green belts in its coastal areas. Local people are well aware of the importance of mangroves. If you don’t have sundarban, 60 per cent of Bangladesh’s land area will be lost. A common strategy can be developed for regional cooperation. OIC countries can work together through data provision, information sharing, developing centre of research on natural calamities and initiating collective measures on DRR. Establishment of a common resource fund can be helpful in coping with climate change and regional issues.
The Bangladesh government, in its development plans, has adopted a bottom up approach of development, through capacity building of poor people. The local people have developed a local level cooperation system. They send boats in case of emergency and shift to their neighbouring localities on receiving flood warnings. The flood information system has been working effectively from the last 10 years. Mobile SMS, community radios, national radios and television telecasts timely warn and inform about the flood details in advance. There is a monitoring system active from the union council level to the national level.
What we need is cooperation at the OIC level, for it means development.
National Participants Reflections
Azhar Qureshi, Cohort-5
It was very nice meeting you all especially with the newly selected LEAD Associates of Cohort-13, already graduated Fellows of various cohorts from Pakistan and abroad as well as participants nominated by the COMSTECH Secretariat during the LEAD – COMSTECH Conference on Climate Change from 30 June to 5 July 2008 in Islamabad. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate LEAD-Pakistan and its management team for organizing such a wonderful learning event at such a unique venue and training facility of international standard. Secondly, the COMSTECH Secretariat headed by Dr. Anwar Nasim also deserves great appreciation for considering the importance of climate change issues with focus on OIC countries in the context of their mitigation and adaptation measures as timely effort in collaboration with LEAD-Pakistan. We wish to see a more formal collaboration between the two organizations on sound footings in future so that the impact of such efforts could be multiplied for making achievements in the field of climate change issues.
As a whole, the current workshop proved a great learning opportunity not only as the orientation training session for the Associates of Cohort-13 but also more for the Fellows from various other cohorts sponsored by LEAD-Pakistan. More learning for the Fellows in a sense means that they had already gone through different stages of class and field based learning processes. Therefore the current opportunity provided to them further enhanced their knowledge & skills in the most important theme of climate change in the ongoing delicate era at the global level.
For me the sessions taken up by Dr. Akmal Husain, Shahid Lutfi, Amjad Virk, Usman Qazi, Adil Najam, Saadullah Ayaz, Mohsin Iqbal and our Fellows from abroad have been very inspiring and thoughtful. In fact, a good tradition has been set in by inviting LEAD Fellows from other countries to share their ideas and present point of views on different themes related to climate change as this has emerged one the important global issues.
The field visits to Nathia Gali & Ayubia for the participants’ exposure with the conserved forests is very much commendable. Our Fellows from Southern Africa, Bangladesh and Tunisia were very much impressed to see the efforts as being made by the Forest Department. Personally, it also added more knowledge for my understanding because earlier I had the impression that deforestation was rapidly increasing in this area. However, the presentations delivered by Dr. Mumtaz and his team further clarified my concepts not only about various categories of forests but also the carbon sequestration process at encouraging level. The short walk of participants at the Dunga Gali Pipeline Track was more than enjoyable. Thanks to our Fellow Mr. Mahmood Nasir from C-5 who shared his highly valuable and intellectual views about biodiversity of the area and possibilities for promotion of responsible eco-tourism. On the way back home, we were also provided the opportunity for tree plantation at a selected site. For some of us this was a new experience. On part of our forest hosts, this was in fact a good tradition that would remind us our role for the cause of forestation.
The recently concluded conference on climate change also provided us another opportunity to interact and network with LEAD Fellows, Associates and colleagues from other organizations. In a way, it filled the gap to some extent for our desire to meet all of us as LEAD All Cohorts Meeting (ACM) being held in the past few years.
We have also been able to organize the meeting of Islamabad LEAD-Club (ILC) at the sidelines of the conference on Day-1 that was attended by almost 10 Islamabad/Rawalpindi based LEAD Associates and Fellows who renewed their commitment to once again meet regularly at this forum as in the past. Being the revolving nature of these meetings, we wish to organize some of the meetings at the premises of COMSTECH with generous support from Dr. Anwar Nasim as he has always been very supportive to encourage the young men & women to further polish their skills in the best interest of civil society. I was also specially encouraged by Dr. Mohammad Mahesar of COMSTECH to organize similar meetings and conferences at this venue so that more and more Forums in the country could benefit out of this state-of-the-art facility.
The recommendations prepared by workshop participants may be further refined and shared at the platform of COMSTECH for OIC countries so that the ongoing collaboration in the climate change issues and their mitigation & adaptation could be further promoted and enhanced.
The concluding dinner on the last day was good and appreciable. Dining at the grassy rooftop of building was enjoyable. However, the component of traditional dinner party as in the past international events was missing for obvious reasons. The spicy chit chat, whistles & gupshup of Ali Jan C-9, Munir Ahmad C-7 and hardly unending comments by Khalid Rasool during and after the sessions created more interest and added different colors to the workshop.
I hope our other colleagues and friends including C-13 would also like to share their personal reflections and snaps through email as a follow up of this event as this has been one of our traditions.
Fauzia Bilqis Malik, Cohort 7
Lots of concerns of the OIC countries are common. There are big challenges from the developed countries. Common people can identify climate change problems, which are glaringly visible. Snow melting can be observed at the high altitude mountains, like Rakaposhi in the Northern areas of Pakistan. We are about to lose our snow reserves. Water scarcity and more floods are afflicting our nation. Rainfall patterns have changed.
We are not prepared to cope with the challenge. We can minimize our problems, through making reservoirs. Agriculture sector is being adversely affected, owing to climate change. Shortage of electricity and prolonged load shedding practice of electricity are the sufferings being faced by us. Muslim countries must strengthen as a group. Joint efforts are needed to negotiate agreements with developing countries. There is lack of awareness on climate change issue in general public. Consumerism and irresponsible use of resources is adding to the problems. Private sector should be activated for waste management. Alternative energy sources like solar energy are the options to be considered for our survival.
We should effectively implement the environmental protection policies for concrete outcomes. Unpredictable political systems and occasional change of governments mar developmental efforts. Cooperation is needed at the OIC level to cope with the effects of climate change. Key is that larger the base on agenda, stronger we will be.
Countries cannot survive individually. Think globally, act locally. Exchange of information should be at all levels. Pakistan must strengthen its knowledge base in young professionals. We signed UN treaties on environment, without realizing what is actually there. We have no choice but to sign agreements on environment. Later, we realize the implications. Lot of organizations do not follow environmental rules, as guidelines.
Deforestation through tree cutting is part of the bigger problem. Need is for alternative energy solutions. Forestation efforts should also be at all levels, including farm level. We should develop capacities to plant and sustain more trees in diverse climatic conditions. Tree cutting is leading to land erosion. Glaciers are melting, leading to floods. Reservoirs are filling at faster pace, owing to land erosion. Results are biodiversity loss and disturbance of ecosystems. Hence, our power generation capacities are decreasing. Agriculture and industrial sector depending on agricultural raw materials is being adversely affected. Cost of living is rising. OIC countries can share their experiences and expertise for resolving climate change issues. Self-responsibility and personal initiatives must be taken. We are energy inefficient. Urban heat island effects are being borne by us, owing to energy inefficient concrete and cement construction. Need is for behavioral change for changing irresponsible consumption patterns.
Khalid Rasul, Cohort-9
Congratulation to LEAD – Pakistan the wisdom house spontaneously radiating quantum of learning and erudition as well investing in leadership to make this world a more peaceful and sustainable place for all. Before attending the Triple C (Climate Change Conference), I was suspicious about the climate change, but now felt more convinced, motivated and action oriented toward the issue. The integration of LEAD - COMSTECH will prove a highly sophesticated tool of learning and outreach.
Ali Tauqeer Sheikh you being at the LEAD-Pakistan driving seat, need not advising us to motivate the fellows and associate, it is something contiguous and inherent in the LEAD programs. Your leadership is enigmatic but alluring; your unbroken presence in the conference was mind-boggling, because I wonder how you dealt simultaneously with so many dimensions. For instance we saw you debriefing and concluding the sessions, actively participating in the brainstorming as well exhibited acrobatic feats on Climate Change agreements, sharing your personal experiences attending international conferences on environment and technical backstopping, it’s wonderful, I fear you obsessed with LEAD?
Over and above, the diverse mix of expert’s congregation at Triple C was appealing and mirrored a functional module with all its efficacy and efficiency. The configuration of lead fellows and associates alongwith resource persons participated in climate change was productively devised, constituting experts from ministry of environment, journalist, academia, agriculturist, environmentalists, Govt officials, medical doctor, NRM specialist, livelihoods professional, development practitioners etc, this generated a diverse mix of opinion and sustainable solutions. Nevertheless, the participation of LEAD-fellows helped LEAD-Associates in comprehending the insight manifestation of personality grooming and impact of LEAD role in their personal life. The integration of LEAD Fellows from other countries was valuable decision and showed maturity of LEAD management because it boosted the idea of global thinking and sharing cross cutting issues of environment and development.
As AT Shiekh mentioned that through this activity the LEADers network was rejuvenated and reactivated with an action-oriented cohort-ship. Hope the tradition will be continued… I would like to thanks Dr. Atta ur Rahman for his precious views sharing and Dr. Anwar Naseem for his sincere hospitality at COMSTECH Secretariat Islamabad.
Sana Khan Amin, Cohort 13
Government is striving for industrialization. Policies on climate change will affect the pace of industrialization. Sixty per cent of our population depends on agricultural sector, whom climate change is going to impact directly. Balochistan floods in the year 2007 are the glaring consequences of climate change.
We should engage in using environment friendly technology, especially in our industrial sector. Obsolete technology is being used by the industrial sector. Industry is not prepared to follow WTO standards. We can receive subsidies from the developed world, through Clean Development Mechanism. Need is to create awareness at the governance, leadership level on climate change. Capacity building initiatives should be taken at mega levels, for developing capacity from grassroots till cadre levels. We have not considered climate change as our own problem. We have not yet internalized the issue. It should be integrated in all fields of life. Warning of climate change should be delivered to the corporate sector, besides environmentalists. Illiteracy, ignorance, poverty are the issues affecting us. For example, no climate friendly livelihood options are available for people, in the NWFP province. Food insecurity and depleting energy resources, like water are complicating our problems. Pakistan can play an important role among the Muslim countries. Cadre support from OIC is a great advantage. Human resource is available in Pakistan. Need is for cross learning.
Jamila Sikander, Cohort 13
There is lack of policy level awareness regarding climate change in Pakistan. Climate change is a fancy world for local population. Awareness can be raised among local population, through launching media campaigns.
Northern areas have been experiencing intensified rains for the last five years. The sudden outburst is leading to the disturbance of fresh water reservoirs. Crops are being destroyed. Livelihoods are being adversely affected.
Coastal areas in the province of Sindh are being lost, through land erosion. Marine ecosystems are being disturbed. Mangrove forests are being destroyed through pollutants. Climate change is related to economic development. Climate change is a new developmental agenda. We can built upon the platform of OIC for working together. Remove the element at risk; Reduce the probability of risk (early warning systems) and improve the capacity (mitigation & preparedness) are the aspects to be considered in coping with climate change, especially while facing disasters.
Ahmad Rafay Alam, Cohort 13
Climate change is a pressing issue for Pakistan. Inaction and indifference towards the issues of survival, such as climate change at the policy level has led to a non-resistant situation towards climate change. Understanding and action at the policy level is must, before we expect to cope with the issue of climate change.