As we celebrate another Independence Day, Pakistan’s 77th, it is high time we shift our focus from our usual glorification of the past to reflect on the challenges facing us right now, and what needs to be done to ensure a prosperous future. Let us move away from symbolic celebrations towards meaningful actions, if we really care for our country and cherish our independence.

All the problems that Pakistan and its citizens face require urgent action from both the government and ourselves, otherwise things will get too out of hand to be repairable.

It is impractical to talk about all the problems all at once, but we can look into those that can easily be solved by us on an individual level. And one of the most critical of those problems whose solution lies with us is climate change.

Climate change is a threat the whole world is facing and Pakistan, particularly, is feeling the heat of it. It is a pressing threat to our environment and the future generations. While the issue is a global one, do you realise that the solution is in our hands, literally. Yes, we can help tackle the change in climate by planting more trees to make Pakistan greener and more resilient to adverse weather conditions.

By pursuing progress and urbanisation, much damage to the environment has been done. The actions of the past have caught up with us today, which is why summer temperatures are more intense, especially in the urban centres where there are no or few green spaces or trees. Deforestation in the countryside and the frequency of extreme weather events have increased the occurrence of floods, landslides and droughts. Our wildlife and biodiversity are under threat, as are agriculture, water resources and the livelihoods of millions of people.

But we can fix all this. Yes, together, we can make Pakistan greener. This has been done in many places around the world and we can do it too. All we need to do is plant more trees — at least one tree, once a year, by each one of us. It doesn’t matter where you live, whether in the lush green hills of Swat or the concrete jungle of Karachi, there is always a vacant place where a tree sapling can be planted.

Remember the government’s initiative, ‘Ten Billion Tree Tsunami’, undertaken some years ago? I don’t........

© Dawn Young Magazine