Speakers Stressed Role Of Science Diplomacy In Addressing Climate Change

News Desk

Islamabad: The proactive role of science diplomacy in addressing the global climate change crisis was stressed by speakers at a one-day introductory course on ‘Science Diplomacy and Sustainability’ held in Islamabad.

The course was arranged by Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), which is one of four standing committees of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) dedicated to the promotion and cooperation of science and technology activities among the OIC member states.

Chairman Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid delivered two lectures and explained that the global South, which also include 57 countries of the OIC, find it more difficult to achieve sustainability and preserve biodiversity and the earth’s resources in the face of climate change.

Dr Zakri said that the environment and biodiversity in these nations, which still require rapid economic development, would suffer as a result of increased economic expansion. The solution to this problem is striking a rigorous scientific balance between encouraging development and supporting conservation.

Prof. Abdul Hamid emphasised the importance of giving research a bigger voice in global negotiations to address the issues of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Policy Planning and Public Diplomacy Division Additional Secretary Mohammad Kamran Akhtar spoke about the essentials of science diplomacy in different areas of international negotiations emphasizing its role as a soft power to advance diplomatic objectives and create goodwill.

Mohammad Kamran discussed Pakistan’s involvement in international scientific projects like the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collaboration in physics. He stressed that while reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global issue that affects all countries, there must be a scaled approach depending on how much each nation has contributed to the current status of the environment.

It is pertinent to mention that CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. LHC is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It consists of a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way.

COMSTECH Coordinator General Dr M Iqbal Choudhary mentioned the organisation’s ongoing initiatives on health and medicine in sub-Saharan Africa, its cooperation on food security with concerned organizations and its award of research grants to scientists in member states are some examples of science diplomacy.

He emphasised that COMSTECH is leading the OIC effort to coordinate key science and technology efforts for economic growth among the 15 top OIC member states (OIC-15 Dialog Platform).