* 

(a) How is climate change impacting on your community or country? How do you think
countries in South Asia and Mongolia need to address climate change issues or to develop
green economic initiatives? (Use up to 200 words)

Pakistan ranks 8th on the world Climate Risk Index. Progressive warming of the air & soil and
periodic heatwaves has intensified more severe, more frequent, and longer droughts. Climate
change and deposits of anthropogenic black carbon (BC) has hastened the melting of the
Himalaya, Hindu Kush, and Karakorum (HKHK) glaciers, leading to avalanches, landslides,
formation of hazardous glacier lakes, GLOFs and monsoon floods which changes the flow of the
vital Indus River system and seriously affects Pakistan's economy and ecology. The 2022 floods
showed Pakistan's high vulnerability to climate change despite contributing less than one
percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. One-third of the country was submerged under
water, and 33 million people were affected. The total damage is estimated at US$14.9 billion,
total loss at US$15.2 billion, and total needs at US$16.3 billion.

The transition to a green economy will vary considerably between nations, as it depends on the
specifics of each country’s natural and human capital and on its relative level of development.
Investment in Renewable Energy Resources, Switching to Sustainable Transport, and Protection
of existing forests / enhance afforestation, Efficient irrigation / Management of water resources
and drastic cut in utilization of Fossil Fuel are the key steps needed to address climate change
issues in Pakistan, South Asia. Pakistan's Billion Tree Tsunami that restored 350,000 hectares of
forests & degraded land, launch of Green Euro Bonds for Hydel Development and installation of
300 MW Floating Solar Panels are few examples of green economic initiative.

* (b) In your current work or voluntary roles, how are you using your Australia Awards
experience (knowledge, networks, skills) to take a leadership role in addressing climate change
or contributing to green economic development or sustainability? (Use up to 150 words)

Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) where I am currently serving as Chief Engineer
(Coordination) is a Member of Pakistan National Water Council to review and coordinate
implementation of the National Water Policy and National Water Sector Strategy.

Fresh water resources in Pakistan (mainly Indus Basin System) are based on snow and glacier-melt and
monsoon rains, both highly sensitive to climate change. Upper Indus Basin (UIB) includes three major
mountain ranges; namely the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya and is characterized by high
mountain peaks and numerous glaciers. Approximately, 70-80% of the flow of the Upper Indus Basin
(UIB) is derived from snow and glacier melt.

Updated and comprehensive knowledge of glaciers and glacial lakes is of utmost importance for WAPDA
to understand and manage the risks associated with Glaciers and climate change. Strengthening Glaciers
Monitoring Network through installation of Automatic Weather Stations at optimum locations,
Automatic River Levels, Field Monitoring and Remote Sensing are the areas where I am able to
contribute my knowledge of GIS and Remote Sensing that I learned through Australia Award. It would
help WAPDA in developing various water management projects to produce green hydel/solar energy,
reduce carbon emission and manage water resources along with encashment of carbon credits, which is
a basic towards green economic development.

* (c) What are your future plans or ambitions to implement meaningful change in your work or
community to contribute to responding to climate change or developing the green economy?
Why is this important? (Use up to 200 words)

The challenge for Pakistan is to reduce their per capita ecological footprint without impairing
their quality of life. Other countries still maintain relatively low per capita ecological footprints,
but need to deliver improved levels of services and material well-being to their citizens. Their
challenge is to do this without drastically increasing their ecological footprints.

Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing are very important tools in
forecasting not only the effects of climate change but also solving these problems and possibly
curbing them before their start. The most in-depth studies use multiple climate datasets that
represent different predictions of the changing that can be used for many types of analysis
leading to both the high and low ends of final prediction.

I feel that as predicting issues related to climate change become more important to the public,
WAPDA in line with its mandate is in a better position to devote more time and money into
tailoring GIS and remote sensing technology to better assist climate change modeling and
projections for providing accurately predicted data to various entities of Pakistan dealing with
Meteorology and Disaster Management tasks. GIS can be applied in climate change related
studies such as land cover/use change, glacier and snow cover, air quality, temperature, rainfall
mapping, and modelling relationships between climate change and increasing natural hazards
and the influence of extreme weather events. This will be of great help to WAPDA in managing
its fresh water resources specially the Indus Basin System which would assist in production of
very affordable Hydel Energy Generation to its optimum, efficient flood mitigation along with
maximum benefits in irrigation and minimum dependence on Thermal Energy. This in return
would able the country to claim its Carbon Credits.

* (d) How would participation in the RAW assist with this effort? What do you hope to achieve
through participation in the RAW? (Use up to 150 words)

The transition to a green economy varies considerably between nations, as it depends on the
specifics of each country’s natural and human capital and on its relative level of development.
Some countries have attained high levels of human development, but often at the expense of
their natural resource base, the quality of their environment, and high GHG emissions. The
challenge for these countries is to reduce their per capita ecological footprint without impairing
their quality of life. Other countries still maintain relatively low per capita ecological footprints,
but need to deliver improved levels of services and material well-being to their citizens. Their
challenge is to do this without drastically increasing their ecological footprints. I hope to learn
and benefit from the experiences of fellow Australia Award scholars /professionals working for
the economic growth of their respective countries without drawing down natural resources,
and allowing widespread ecosystem degradation and loss.
We are looking for RAW participants who are willing to contribute to the RAW, including by
sharing their successes and challenges in climate change, sustainability, and the green
economy. These may be the subject of a future grants round.

* (a) Are you willing to make a 5-minute presentation to the RAW on your challenges and
achievements in responding to climate change or developing green economic initiatives? These
may be discussed by other RAW participants during the workshop to help share ideas and
lessons.
 Yes
 No
If yes, please provide a summary of your project or challenges, including your leadership role in
it (up to 350 words).

(b) If you have participated in a RAW previously, are you willing to be a mentor to an alumni who is
attending their first RAW?
 Yes
 No
* (c) If selected to participate in the 2023 RAW, would you be willing to contribute in any other
ways, including by being on a panel, facilitating a question and answer session or another way?
 Yes
 No
If yes, please provide any details of the role you would like to play (up to 100 words)
Communities of Practice (CoP) provide a way to collaborate and share ideas with other alumni
working on the same issue.  Participants in the RAW will become members of a relaunched
Champions for Environment and Climate Action Community of Practice and will play an
important role in keeping the CoP active.

* (a) How would membership of a CoP assist you in your work on climate change or the green
economy addressing climate change issues and contribute to the development of a green
economy? (Use 250 words)

* (b) How would you contribute to the ongoing success of the Champions for Environment and
Climate Action Community of Practice? (Use up to 200 words)
We encourage you to share a video (maximum three minutes length) in support of your
application. You could use it to explain your work, projects or challenges, your ideas for a
community of practice or anything else you would like to share. Please share a link to the video
(via YouTube, Google, or another method).

You are also able to submit additional documents/resources to strengthen your application.
These may include, but not limited to: - News stories - Pictures (with captions) -
Awards/Citations - Journal Articles - Referee Letters. Please upload or submit a link (Dropbox,
WeTransfer, Google docs) to these documents. Please DO NOT send additional documents as
an email attachment.

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