President Azad Jammu And Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan Stresses Measures For Protecting Environment

President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan has said that government's primary responsibility was to take meaningful measures for preventing and managing environmental impact of human activity and similarly, in comprehensive and coherent manner address the challenges posed to the environment.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jun, 2018 ) :President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan has said that government's Primary responsibility was to take meaningful measures for preventing and managing environmental impact of human activity and similarly, in comprehensive and coherent manner address the challenges posed to the environment.

The President made these remarks as the Chief guest at a seminar marking the World Environment Day organized by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This year, the World Environment Days' theme is "Beat Plastic Pollution".

While speaking to his audience, the President reiterated the need for government institutions to formulate policies and frameworks for safeguarding precious environmental resources and promote responsible attitudes.

He said that it was our religious and collective social responsibility to help promote similar activities and encourage sustainable and responsible production processes, said a press release.

The President said that climate change and its accompanying environmental degradation are perceived to be a threat that can have incalculable consequences.

He added that challenges of global climate change have been at the forefront of the international agenda in the last quarter of a century and this issue has become an area of concern for many governments across the globe.

Underlining the environmental impact of irresponsibly using plastics, especially single-use polythene bags, the President said that using such bags has led to a considerable impact on the environment and the inappropriate disposal of these bags along with its inability to biodegrade has led to toxic contaminants being introduced into the soil, ultimately poisoning the very food that we eat.

He added that the excessive use of plastic bags have become a nuisance both in urban and rural settings which has deeply impacted the ecosystem, adding that if this trend continues, it is said that by 2050 plastic would exceed the number of fish in the world's oceans.

President Masood Khan also emphasised the need to protect the environment by planting more trees and ensuring proper treatment of sewage and solid waste.

He said that the AJK Government in this regard has taken steps to promote tree plantation in all districts of AJK adding that after the Federal Government the AJK Government was the first to prepare and promulgate its climate change policy which aims to mitigate climate change, spur sustainable development and avert greenhouse gas emissions.

Underlining the importance of the Government's role in protecting the environment, the President said that through legislation the Government must adopt punitive measures for any violations. He added that responsible activities must also be incentivised and protection of the environment and the ecosystem should be an integral part of any organizations' corporate social responsibilities.

The President said that AJK has a diverse yet fragile ecosystem prone to natural disasters like earthquakes and floods that needs to be protected, therefore, the Government has embarked on an ambitious plan of afforestation and in order to slow down melting of glaciers. He said that this has also led to the AJK Government vigilantly taking steps to ensure that all construction projects within the State strictly conform to environmental requirements and protocols.

The event was attended by Dr. Syed Asif Hussain Shah, Additional Chief Secretary AJK; Raja Muhammad Razzaque Khan, DG Environment Protection Agency; Muhammad Akhtar Cheema, Country Representative International Union for Conservation of Nature-Pakistan; Prof. Dr. Haleem Khan, Vice Chancellor AJK Women University Bagh; the business community, activists and a large number of people from the civil society.