PESHAWAR: It is not easy to convince the public over serious subjects like climate change despite Pakistan facing this pressing issue, which is being viewed as a major threat to many sectors including agriculture, economy, and mental health. These words were shared by Muhammad Daud Khan and his wife with WE News on Friday. The environment-friendly couple creates awareness about climate change through their social media platform “Climate Watch” in Northwest Pakistan in the local Pashto language.
The local authorities and the world realized climate change’s negative impact on Pakistan after record floods and heavy rains in 2022 that affected around 33 million people. They caused over $15 billion in damages. Similarly, in the current year, flash floods and heavy rains further upended lives and livelihoods in different parts of the country.
Who is Muhammad Daud Khan?
Muhammad Daud Khan, a multimedia producer and also writes for different national and international outlets over the issue of climate change. Khan told WE News that Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change underlines the urgency of world solidarity and cooperation. He said that he and his wife are not only making efforts to create awareness about this pressing issue at the local level but also sharing the stories of the local people with international audiences to convince the international community to give more and more focus to this part of the world to save precious lives from the impact of climate change.
Khan said that they focus on hilly and plain areas of Hindu Kush to save the area from the negative impact of climate change. He said that most people rely on agriculture in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and many farmers suffered financially due to changing patterns of the weather in the area. Khan said that the farmers of apple, wild cherry, peach and apricot orchards had suffered in many areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa especially in district Kurram during the last season due to changing weather patterns and termed it a fruitless season for many. He said that he highlighted such issues in his program via “Climate Watch” and apprised the people about the causes of this pressing issue, which can steal their jobs, economy and even houses.
The couple produced “Explainer” and “Podcast” in Pashto language to tell the people about the intensity of the climate change and its impact on their lives. Khan said that they are making efforts just to apprise the people about the nature of this problem. Khan was of the view that it is a global issue and Pakistan is the victim of this problem, adding now it is the main responsibility of the world to assist Islamabad to minimize its effect. Khan said they are explaining this global issue of climate change in the hyper-local Pashto language. Awareness can enable the citizens to equip themselves to take measures for the safety of the environment, he remarked.
To a question, about how he shares stories with the international world, he replies in a very soft tone, that he also writes for international media outlets and often visits abroad via fellowships, adding this allows him to convince the world to cooperate with Pakistan to minimize the negative impact of the climate change.
He said that recently, the Chevening South Asia Journalism Fellowship program was awarded to him and the focus of his work was climate change. He added that it was a good experience for him and he not only learnt how to tackle this pressing problem but now, he is making efforts here to make people environment friendly.
Khan said that he also attended Oxford Climate Journalism Network’s second group from July to December 2022. He also regularly writes for the English press in Pakistan on the issues of the environment.
Khan’s wife told WE News that she was impressed by Muhammad Daud Khan to join hands with him to battle the issue of climate change in Pakistan. She said that she prefers to work behind the camera and help Muhammad Duad Khan in the process of pre-production, production and post-production. She termed it an interesting work to fight against climate change, adding they want to contribute and save the upcoming generation of the South Asian country. She admitted that they faced some challenges in the early days of their work as people took more interest in political, sports and entertainment news as compared to subjects like climate change. She hoped that their contribution would make a difference in the bright future of Pakistan.
Khan also agreed with her and said that it was not an easy journey for them but expressed happiness for their contribution to saving the environment from the challenge of climate change.
The Government of Pakistan at national and provincial levels took several measures to address the emerging challenge. Following the climate change trend recently, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government also decided to include climate change subjects in the school syllabus, one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
