Islamabad, 6 March 2023 (GNP): A one-day introductory seminar on “science diplomacy and sustainability” was offered by COMSTECH on Monday at the COMSTECH auditorium.
Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid, the former science advisor to the Malaysian prime minister, and Mr. Kamran Akhtar, additional secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs, spoke at the course. The Coordinator General of COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, gave the welcome speech; the Adviser of COMSTECH, Dr. S. Khurshid Hasanain, gave the opening comments.
Dr. Zakri gave two lectures, in which he emphasised that the 57 nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are part of the Global South, where efforts to preserve biodiversity and the earth’s resources in the face of climate change are more difficult.
According to him, the ecology and biodiversity in these nations, which still require rapid economic development, would suffer as a result of increased economic expansion.
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According to him, this problem calls for a rigorous scientific balancing act between encouraging growth and facilitating conservation. He talked about potential courses of action for different stakeholders based on scientific diplomacy. Prof. Zakri emphasised the importance of a stronger role for research in global discussions to address issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.
Speaking on the importance of science diplomacy in various fields of international negotiations, Mohammad Kamran Akhtar, Additional Secretary (ACDIS) from the Policy Planning and Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasised its function as soft power to advance diplomatic goals and foster goodwill.
He went on to discuss Pakistan’s involvement in international scientific projects including the physics LHC cooperation at CERN. On the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, he stressed that while it is an issue shared by all countries, there has to be a scaled responsibility for emission reduction depending on how much each country has contributed to the current status of the environment.
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Speaking at the event, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, the Coordinator General of COMSTECH, described the organization’s function in the area of scientific diplomacy. As instances of science diplomacy, he cited the organization’s continuous endeavours in the fields of health and medicine in sub-Saharan Africa, its collaboration with groups concerned about food security, and its awarding of research funds to scientists in member states.
He emphasised that COMSTECH is spearheading the OIC effort to coordinate key science and technology efforts for economic growth among the 15 top OIC member nations (OIC-15 Dialog Platform). He greeted the diplomats from several OIC and non-OIC nations as well as the course participants, and he expressed the hope that it may result in further collaboration in science and technology under the auspices of COMSTECH.
Many members of the Diplomatic Corps in Islamabad, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, professors, and experts in the subject of sustainable development were present.