ISLAMABAD: Malik Amin Aslam, Advisor to Prime Minister on Climate Change said that government’s initiative to plant ten billion trees was a nationwide campaign that will change behavior of people towards climate. He was addressing as chief guest in a tree plantation ceremony jointly organized by Islamabad Industrial Association (IIA) and Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PAK-EPA) in I-9 and 1-10 Industrial Areas. He said industry in Islamabad should plant maximum trees in industrial areas to become a role model for the rest of the country. He said that today’s tree plantation drive was a positive step towards making Islamabad clean and green, which was laudable.
Hassan Nisar Jami Secretary Ministry of Climate Change, Sheikh Anser Aziz Mayor Islamabad, Dr. Fazana Altaf Director General Pakistan Environment Protection Agency, Ahmed Hassan Moughal President, Rafat Farid Senior Vice President, Iftikhar Anwar Sethi Vice President ICCI, Mian Akram Farid President Islamabad Industrial Area Association, local industrialists including Khalid Javed, Tariq Sadiq, Nasir Khan, Ch. Waheed ud Din, Mehfooz Elahi, Karim Aziz Malik, Zahid Maqbool, Mian Arif, Javed Iqbal, Mehmood Warraich, Khalid Chaudhry and others were also present at the occasion.
Sheikh Anser Aziz, Mayor Islamabad said that under public-private partnership, millions of trees were being planted in Islamabad and this year’s target was to plant 3 million trees. He said Industrial Association Islamabad in collaboration with MCI has started to plant trees in industrial areas of Islamabad that was a positive initiative to make Islamabad clean and green.
Ahmed Hassan Moughal, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that as per UNDP report, less than 5 percent of Pakistan’s total area was under forest cover and 1.5 percent of these forests were lost every year. He said this has profound impacts on Pakistan’s environment and stressed for the need of planting maximum trees to save the future generations from the destructive impacts of climate change. He assured that the business community would fully cooperate with the government in tree plantation drive to make Pakistan clean and green.
Mian Akram Farid, President, Islamabad Industrial Association said that planting more trees was the best way to cope with negative effects of climate change, He said future of our children depended on tree plantation and industry would take forward the Prime Minister’s vision of clean and green Pakistan. He said industrial areas in Islamabad has become a role model by minimizing environment pollution.
Dr. Farzana Altaf Shah, Director General, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency appreciated efforts of steel industry in Islamabad for installing pollution control plants in steel furnaces due to which Islamabad has emerged as a pollution free Industrial Zone for others to follow suit. Rafat Farid Senior Vice President ICCI, Nasir Qureshi and Mirza Muhammad Ali Vice Presidents Islamabad Industrial Area and others also spoke at the occasion.
