Youth in Pakistan learn new ways to address climate change issues
Forty students from major cities and the mountains of Pakistan assembled for a special event in Islamabad, Pakistan, 24-27 November 2014, to learn about the environmental impacts of climate change and about state of the art tools for addressing this issue. Emphasizing the importance of communicating about climate change issues and promoting solutions, the SERVIR Himalaya Youth Forum: Using Earth Observation for Climate Change Actions introduced the young people to the use of Earth observation information and allied technologies for climate actions.
Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad, Chairman of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), noted that as a country with 50% of its population under the age of 25, Pakistan has great potential to promote new technologies in agriculture and related sectors. He expressed his belief that the Youth Forum would inspire young people, particularly from remote mountain areas of Pakistan, to use geospatial science as well as Earth observations and related technologies to address climate change and similar issues.
Dr. Muhammad Azeem Ahmed Khan, Director General of the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), stated that with increased intensity and frequency of extreme climatic changes like drought and floods, these new methods need to be understood and integrated into policies and decision making. He noted the growing relevance of topics like assessment of the status of glaciers, permafrost, water availability, land productivity, and emergency relief, and stated that it is important to develop knowledge of these issues. He suggested that Earth observation systems and geo-information technologies should be used as basic tools for exploring these interlinked disciplines.
Mr. Birendra Bajracharya of ICIMOD/SERVIR-Himalaya, gave examples of Earth observation resources and applications and noted that the youth forum provides a unique opportunity for youth from across the country to engage with each other in addressing the challenges of sustainability by applying location-specific solutions. Coming from diverse backgrounds, the participants did indeed learn from each other’s experiences, form networks, and initiate collaborations.
One of the attendees summarized their general response: “It was really a nice platform to learn about climate change and to interact with multicultural people and to share knowledge.”
Notes:
The attendees were college and graduate school students.
The youth forum was organized by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in collaboration with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), under the SERVIR-Himalaya Initiative. ICIMOD, SERVIR’s regional hub host organization in the HKH region, is a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge sharing center serving the eight regional member countries of HKH region – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Here are links to news stories on the youth forum by media in Pakistan: