‘Climate change is a non-traditional security challenge for Pakistan and world’

KARACHI: A variety of speakers shed light on the climate crises confronting Pakistan at a two-day conference which recently concluded in Karachi, with experts highlighting the fact that climate change was actually a security challenge for the country and needed to be dealt with accordingly.

The Centre for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Pakistan, organized the conference on ‘Climate Change: Threats, Risks and Vulnerabilities — Ecologies at the Margins’ at the IBA Main Campus, says a press release.

The conference, an initiative of the department of social sciences and liberal arts students, kicked off with a tree-plantation ceremony at the courtyard with the IBA gardening team where head of HSF Pakistan, Dr Steffen Kudella, the conference organizers, and volunteers planted amaltas and gulmohar seedlings.

IBA Karachi Executive Director Dr S. Akbar Zaidi was elated at this student-led initiative. He stated, “This conference on climate change, organized by the students of the Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts (SSLA), School of Economics and Social Sciences, is essential because young people will be highly affected by the climate crisis. A youth-led dialogue is necessary since it helps prioritize the actions taken by the young and others as community, business and political leaders and members of society. Addressing the impacts of climate change and the needs of a sustainable future is complex and requires innovative solutions. I am pleased that students took this initiative and are leading this meaningful dialogue on this crucial topic.”

Dr Kudella opened the conference by highlighting the impact of climate change on food security, water resources, and other non-traditional and transnational security challenges. “The HSF proudly supports the CBER at IBA to promote research-based, inclusive and creative responses to climate change. Climate change is a non-traditional security challenge for Pakistan and the world, and it is especially relevant for megacities like Karachi. In the context of this heavily urbanized coastal city, the threats, risks and vulnerabilities with regard to Climate Change become even more pressing,” he stated.

The first panel, ‘Ecology and the State’, featured panellists Dr Nausheen Anwar, professor, city and regional planning, department of SSLA, and director, Karachi Urban Lab; and Dr Erum Sattar, lecturer, Tufts University; and was moderated by Ali Samoo, an IBA student. The session shed light on the colonial administrative legacy and the inadequacy of the urban infrastructure in managing the climate crisis.

The panel on ‘Critical Animal Studies, Animal Rights and Feminism’ featuring Maneesha Deckha, law professor at the University of Victoria, questioned the category of animality in the bigger conversation of climate change and the populace’s general insensitivity towards stray animals in discourse and policymaking.

Film-maker Jawad Sharif addressed the Q&A session after the screening of his documentary film Natari which dealt with the very important subject of climate migration and the struggle and resistance of fishermen on the island of Kharo Chaan in Sindh and the sinking Indus Delta.

Day 2 of the conference touched upon ‘The Feminist Movement and Climate Justice’ where panellists identified the feminist interventions in the approach towards climate change. The panellists included activist and writer Atiya Abbas; culture writer and community organizer Aiman Rizwi and activists and writers Fizza Qureshi and Basil Andrews. It was moderated by Safina Azeem, an IBA student.

The session on ‘Subaltern Animism’ featured Dr Yamini Narayanan, senior lecturer at Deakin University. The conversation emphasized the importance of centering animal studies in discussions on climate change and building collaborative linkages which can address the invisibilization of animals in urban spaces.

The last panel of the conference ‘Entrepreneurship, Fair Trade, and Ethical Practice’ underscored the necessity of environment friendly business practices.

The conference concluded with a student circle on youth activism and social change.