Sustainability in age of Climate Change
Furthermore, in the lead up to international conferences like COPs youth need to continue holding world leaders accountable to the recommendation so that this promising momentum can translate into real commitments.
The aim of the event is to provide a platform where key stakeholders are able to listen to the experience of youth and have a discussion on a possible way forward.
The Ministry of Climate Change, Poverty Alleviation and Foreign Affairs of Pakistan play a commendable role regarding spreading awareness and seeking attention to the recent climate crisis in Pakistan.
The international campaign including the dedicated visits of various notables like the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, international humanitarian Angelina Jolie and many others dignitaries to the flood affected areas is one of great achievements.
Further Government is also sensitizing the issue nationally and internationally by engaging various stakeholders from different parts of the world.
There is a dire need to effectively engage children, youth and millennial for climate campaigns as they are the major stakeholders of using modern means of digital communication.
As experienced, digital tools and social media have strong influence to engage the target population towards meaningful impact.
Through the collaboration of impact technologies, one can integrate the youth, children and millennial on one single platform to support their voices and also influence policy making to combat climate disasters.
I personally believe that climate change is a human right issue and protecting human rights is our joint responsibility.
This right is deeply connected with the protection of the ecosystem and biodiversity in the region.
I also believe that there is a greater need to integrate indigenous youth with digital mode of communication.
To achieve this goal there is a need to initiate digital learning and effective use of social media to support policymakers and other stakeholders for effective decision and policy making.
Keeping in view the importance of this young population in regional and global affairs, there is a need to engage them into a dialogue series and workshops on measures on how to turn the recent flood affected region into a zone of environmental innovations and technologies.
These dialogues and workshops must cover a number of topics on green recovery, international support in development of the flood affected regions, ecologically-oriented regional development, afforestation activities at the flood affected bed and many others.
Furthermore, there is also a need to initiate such programmes which aim to encourage sustainable living in the most affected region through building the capacity of teachers, empowering local communities and mobilizing children and most importantly the rural young people.
The international community needs to initiate and continue the existing assistance for improving efficiency and implementation of innovations in Pakistan by promoting smart and digital communities with favourable infrastructure for empowering youths, women as well as vulnerable groups of people, including people with disabilities, families headed by women and labour migrants.
With due support of international community, targeted programmes must be initiated that aim to combine efforts towards: development and implementation of environmental-friendly technologies, integrated implementation of the principles of a “green” economy; mainstreaming of energy- and water-saving technologies, prevention of further desertification and environmental migration, and development of ecotourism and other initiatives.
At present, the youth share in the global population is above 50% while in Pakistan population is 67% and this population has a huge impact on sustainable development having great potential to solve problems associated with the consequences of the Climate Crisis by various innovative solutions.
There is a need to involve youth-led organizations aimed at sustainably improving ecosystems terrains impacted by destructive climatic events.
There is also a need to have a stronger resolve towards the international commitments and improve youth engagements climate adaptation.
The levels of Climate Finance are far from desirable and allocation of funds for youth engagement in this respect is even lower.
—Concluded. —The writer is a Pakistani Climate Youth Leader, UN SDGs Advocate and an expert on Youth Development in Global South.
