Conference On Environment, Sustainable Development Begins At GCU

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Sep, 2021 ) :A three-day international conference on "Environment and Sustainable Development" began at the Government College University (GCU) here on Monday under the auspices of its Sustainable Development Study Centre (SDSC) to discuss the significance of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their impact on the country's future.

Member National Assembly (MNA) Riaz Fatyana, Convener of National Parliamentary Task force on SDGs, chaired the inaugural session of the conference marked by key note addresses from Prof Dr Shahbaz Khan from UNESCO China and VC Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi.

Provincial Minister for Environment Protection Muhammad Rizwan and GCU SDSC Director Prof Dr Faiza Sharif also addressed the inaugural ceremony. The theme of this year's conference was "Partnership for the Goals".

In his keynote address on "South-South Cooperation for Delivering a Knowledge base for Sustainable Development", Dr Shahbaz Khan put an emphasis on two key areas relative to the sustainable development goals i.e climate change and biodiversity. He stated that SDGs were interlinked and despite all the challenges, Pakistan was still progressing well.

Dr Khan also talked about the significance of United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation working at local and provincial levels with a five-year cycle plan. He concluded his talk on the role UNESCO was playing in ending discrimination and promoting intellectual dialogue.

MNA Riaz Fatyana highlighted the efforts of government to promote academic excellence, environmental protection policies for solid waste management, noise and land pollution, plantation drive, eco-tourism and conservation of national parks.

Talking about how SDGs put aging firmly onto the agenda of development, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi put an emphasis on the issue of population aging and how sustainable development has helped bring the agenda on international level. He talked about the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda that is focused on social inclusion of older people and could be related to all SDGs.

Prof. Zaidi concluded his speech on the remarks that sustainable development and inclusion of older people was a common challenge in regions like Eastern Asia and Latin America, but "we must embark on agendas to help meet the sustainable development goals".

Provincial Minister Muhammad Rizwan said that the sustainability could not be achieved overnight. "I have specifically focused to put an end on the poisonous emissions due to the hazardous waste by working on implementation policies during my tenure," the minister said.

Rizwan also explained how only a slight change in global temperature would cause an irreversible damage.

As long as people don't learn to take personal responsibility, governments from all the countries would never be able to save the environment, he concluded.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Faiza highlighted the importance of conference as an opportunity for researchers, scientists, industrialists, and policymakers to present their work to help meet sustainable development goals through effective collaboration. She also highlighted the main themes of conference in the area of sustainable agriculture and food security, water resourcesmanagement and poverty alleviation.

Later, MNA Riaz Fatyana presented appreciation shields to event partners.