LAHORE: Participants in a climate conclave on Monday called for greater focus on domestic climate adaptation and implementation of international commitments.

The “Provincial Climate Conclave Punjab – COP in My City 2026” was held at the Government College University (GCU) here ahead of the COP31 climate summit to be held in Turkey.

Speaking at the event, GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Omer Chaudhry said Pakistan contributed around 0.4pc to global carbon emissions, but remained highly vulnerable to climate change.

He said Pakistan is losing around 500 acres of agricultural land every month to residential development and warned that urbanisation and pesticide use are also affecting local biodiversity.

Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Additional Secretary Amir Mohyuddin called for greater emphasis on climate adaptation at the domestic level, citing the 2022 floods and growing concerns at water shortage.

Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Abdullah Nayyar Sheikh said the province is facing challenges related to smog, air pollution and deteriorating water quality.

He said 56 air-pollution monitoring systems are being deployed across Punjab, while predictive forecasting models are being developed to help deal with severe heatwaves.

Unicef WASH (Water, Sanitation and hygiene) and CEE Specialist Sabahat Ambreen said climate change was affecting children’s rights, with floods disrupting education and affecting their development.

During the conclave, the participants discussed loss and damage, climate finance and just transition, decarbonisation and carbon markets, besides resilience and adaptation.

Environmental lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam discussed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Green Climate Fund, stressing the role of regulatory frameworks and legal mechanisms in accessing climate finance and ensuring institutional accountability.

PU: A two-day international academic conference titled “History writing: modern trends and new perspectives” kicked off on Monday at Punjab University Al Raazi Hall.

The conference was organised to explore evolving historiographical trends and new methodological approaches in Pakistan. The inaugural session gathered prominent national and international historians, academicians, scholars, and students.

On the occasion, PU VC Prof Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge, UK’s Prof Sujit Sivasundaram, PU Dean Faculty of Arts & Humanities Prof Dr Mehboob Hussain, Dean of Liberal Arts at BNU Prof Dr Tahir Kamran, and Professor Emeritus at Bath Spa University, UK, Prof Dr Iftikhar H Malik, were also present.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2026