#ClimateChange Risk Remains a Major Impediment to Human Security: Scholar

• #ClimateChange is a looming threat for Pakistan
• Quick measures are needed to protect the #environment and climate.

Rawalpindi: Climate change risk remains a major impediment to human security in Punjab, depicts the outcome of symposium on ‘Climate Change Risk and Human Security: A Study of Selected Districts of Punjab’, held here on Tuesday at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU).

The symposium was based on #HEC funded NRPU project awarded to project team at Department of Economics. Symposium was moderated by Khudeeja Nadeem, student of BS Economics. Prof. Dr. Bushra Yasmin, Project PI, welcomed the guests and presented the project overview. She elaborated that project is grounded on people’s perception-based measure of climate change and offers wider information on exposure, sensitivity and adaptability of household towards climate change risk.

The project helped in suggesting indigenous policy solutions and providing rationale for introducing awareness campaigns to help people in developing resilience and to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on human security. She expressed her hope that project findings and outcome of awareness campaign would be long-lasting and fruitful in guiding stake holders to take effective measures to tackle the climate change risk at community level. She expressed her gratitude to Higher Education Commission for project funding with the hope that HEC would keep supporting such research endeavours of the universities in filling the academia-industry and policy makers’ gap. This was followed by the display of an introductory video of the project. The project Co-PIs, Iffat Irshad and Sadia Sherbaz presented the methodology and findings of research project and explained climate change risk has consistently negatively significant impact on human security and all its constituents.

Though the adaptation has significant impact on human security, the level of adaptation is quite low when compared to the levels of exposure and sensitivity to climate change.

Distinguished Guest speaker of the event, Afia Salam, #Environmental Journalist and Member of National Climate Change Council addressed the audience regarding ‘Climate Change Research: Need of the Hour.’ Salam discussed that climate change risk is not considered as an important factor affecting human security until recently.

The event concluded with consensus that #ClimateChange is a looming threat and quick measures are needed to protect the environment and climate.

By: M.A