Posted on 06 March 2020

Lahore, 6 March 2020: WWF-Pakistan held the 10-year anniversary of its Green Office Initiative (GOI), at Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore. The event was aimed at celebrating the enormous success of the initiative over the past decade and also to recognise the key participants that have contributed in making the Green Office Initiative an integral part of the corporate sector’s zeitgeist. The one-day event was attended by corporate partners, public sector leaders, academia and industry practitioners from across Pakistan.
 
Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General, WWF-Pakistan while welcoming the participants said, “The Green Office Initiative has been a flagship intervention by WWF-Pakistan in the corporate sector, which is now in its tenth year of implementation. In light of the achievements of the past decade, we are even more motivated to expand the influence of the Green Office Initiative and by virtue of it, facilitate the corporate sector in realising their responsibility towards the environment.”
 
Nazifa Butt, Manager Climate Energy Programme, WWF-Pakistan, who also served as the convenor, gave a thorough insight to the carbon emissions circumvented and curtailed through the initiative. She apprised the audience about the reduction in paper, energy, fuel, travel and waste achieved through the collaborative effort of corporate members that are part of the Green Office umbrella.    
 
The corporate sector, whose repertoire of work in the past decade is extensive, then took the stage to highlight their achievements. Wajid Junejo, Plant Manager, Engro Fertilizers Limited, Zarkhez plant, dedicated his presentation to the journey of GOI at Enrgo Fertilizers. Jawad Khan, Circular Economy Manager, Tetra Pak informed the audience of the efforts undertaken by Tetra Pak to recover and recycle paper waste (used beverage cartons). In the same manner, while Muhammad Bin Shahzad, Manager Environment, Health and Safety (HSE) at Packages Limited elucidated the water and paper conserving mechanisms being followed at Pacakges Limited, Omer Khalil, HSE Manager, Islamabad Serena Hotels explained the food waste utilisation framework being followed at Serena Business complex. Sara Sultan, Environmental Engineer, Fatima Fertilisers and Mubashar Abbas, Assistant Manager HSE, Unilever Pakistan Limited concluded the session by delineating the benefits and the positive impact the Green Office Initiative has had on their respective offices. 
 
Immediately after, as indicated by Hammd Naqi Khan in his welcome address, in order to expand the ambit of the Green Office initiative, a new sub-programme “SolaPanda” was launched. While elaborating on the details of the newly initiated programme, Farah Rashid, Coordinator Climate Energy Programme, WWF-Pakistan also stressed on the urgent need to incentivize and promote renewable technology (solar power) in off-grid areas in Pakistan.
 
An award ceremony followed in which the top performers in various categories set forth by WWF-Pakistan were recognised for their efforts and were presented with souvenirs. The chief guest of the event, Muhammad Rizwan, Provincial Minister for Environment Protection, then took the stage and lauded the efforts put forth by WWF-Pakistan. On this occasion he said, “This is a significant and meaningful step towards climate action through the promotion of behavioural change in the corporate sector while reducing carbon emissions and subsequent costs. The government has also set an ambitious goal of an overall reduction of 20 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. In this regard, I would like to acknowledge the commendable efforts of WWF-Pakistan for initiating this programme to reduce carbon emissions.”   
 
Nazifa Butt concluded the event by congratulating the award recipients and conveyed her gratitude to all the participants and speakers.