The Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Romina Khurshid Alam, on Sunday unveiled plans to launch a dedicated TV channel tailored to support farmers in combating the impacts of climate change.
PM’s aide in a statement said the idea of this innovative channel aims to educate farmers on climate adaptation strategies, disaster management techniques, and sustainable practices to mitigate environmental degradation.
Alam said the channel would leverage the services of Pakistan Television (PTV) to broadcast programs in six regional languages, ensuring that vulnerable communities received timely information. The programs would be telecast through local PTV stations at the provincial level, maximizing and localizing the coverage and reach, she added.
She also engaged with a private channel to amplify the voice of the climate ministry, promoting clean and green initiatives. She emphasized the importance of media support in enhancing climate change coverage and rearrange journalism priorities.
The PM’s aide noted the TV channel would provide farmers with timely information and guidance on adapting to climate-related challenges, including weather alerts to enable preemptive measures. She said adding, the channel will also feature initiatives promoting women’s income generation, gender empowerment, and environmental sustainability.
She said the government sought to empower farmers with knowledge and tools to build resilience against climate change, leveraging the power of media. She stated media teams from relevant climate change departments and TV initiatives would collaborate to strengthen our efforts protecting the socio-economic impacts of climate change on the farming community.
During different meetings convened in June over global heat waves and floods, the PM’s aide directed relevant institutions to strengthen official media teams to keep the vulnerable communities informed about climate change timely.
She said the goal was to sensitize media to report on climate change before potential flash flooding and glacial lake outbursts in vulnerable regions. Alam was optimistic that the TV channel initiative would be a groundbreaking step towards a more climate-resilient and sustainable agricultural sector in Pakistan.