Amid the challenge of sustainable development has become more global and acute, the experts stressed the need for putting people and environment at the center of development process to make this process sustainable and equitable.
Founding Executive Director of SDPI Dr Abid Suleri spoke of SDPI’s continued commitment to undertake research and promote sustainable development in the country despite of persistent difficult challenges especially financial constraints over the years. With SDPI’s selection under the global think tank initiative, the institute would revisit its independent policy research and advocacy agenda to bring lasting improvements in the lives of people he added.
Former ambassador and senior official of UN Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel said that the challenge of sustainable development could not be delegated to the government alone it was in fact a challenge for all citizens. At the heart of the debate, he stressed, lay the need to reinvent the concept of development in a manner, which do not leads to the continued augmentation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that was responsible for climate change.
Dr Tariq Banuri shared the background of founding and evolution of SDPI. He said we live in a world with complex challenges thus it was necessary then to devise a practical way of moving forward which did not compromise on any ideals or excluded any aspects of peoples development. This was the guiding force that led to the creation of SDPI which proved to be an institution made for and in the public interest. He said that the problem of sustainability had always existed but today as climate change impacts were becoming glaringly evident, the challenge of sustainable development has become more global and acute. While the world confronts multiplicity of problems, the urgency to resolve these issues has become more essential now, he added.
He defined three broad categories of issues in sustainable development; some public problems could be reconciled through accelerating development, secondly some environmental issues however do not have a direct and apparent link with development but could be resolved through a more holistic approach and lastly there were some environmental concerns that have worsened with conventional forms of development.
He added that the climate change has posed a challenge that was not limited to a single sector or agenda alone nor was it a localized but a global concern. He refuted claims that climate change concerns opposed developmental aims and stressed instead that a solution existed today in the form of renewable energy. The actual challenge was to create a program to make renewable energy affordable to provide a way to reconcile goals of mitigation of emissions and development, he stressed.
He said that it wasn’t just today that Pakistan was in a difficult position but that the country has always been in a difficult situation. Country's challenges during SDPI’s initial years, were still present today though their nature and scope have changed. For Pakistan, it was essential for stakeholders to build bridges and move forward together. It was only through the initiation of such a long term processes, country’s problems can be managed which were affecting the country and its peoples. In the end, he said that the lesson for Pakistan as it confronts the challenge of sustainable development head on was to do so with sincerity and perseverance.
The Frederick S. Pardee Professor for Global Public Policy ,Boston University, USA,Dr Adil Najam began his discussion with criticizing the wave of pessimism that has engulfed Pakistan, asserting that it was not true that everything in the country was negative and that there were a lot of positive things were happening and one can build on.
He went to discuss three models of growth measured in terms of ‘development’ which included the way buildings were built by making plans even before the foundations were set, the dynamics of the way rivers grow which was translated into mergers and acquisitions, and lastly the scheme underlying the growth of forests which was a way of ‘scaling out’ as opposed to means of ‘scaling up.’
He cited his own study which was conducted at Boston University where he identified five possible future scenarios of Pakistan. He said that the single worst and single best scenario were equally likely to take place which included institutional disintegration leading to a new improved system and a complete resource crush. Citing that Pakistan’s average soil was worse that the average soil in the state of Arizona, he said that Pakistan has emerged as an agricultural country only because of its irrigation system while Pakistan’s future was linked with issue of water.
He commended the efforts of SDPI for sustainable development in the country and said that SDPI continues to act as ‘intellectual home’ for those who were passionate and committed to the cause of sustainable development.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
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