Joint seismic survey report being prepared: Nouraiz
By Adnan Rafique

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Science and Technology, Ch. Nouraiz Shakoor Khan on Thursday said a seismic survey is being conducted in cooperation with different countries and the report in this regard would soon be prepared.
He said among others a Swiss team, engaged in seismological study for the last ten years has been asked to compile a report at the earliest. Nouraiz Shakoor was talking to media-persons after the inaugural session of an International Workshop on 'Impact of Climate and Weather Change on Society Affairs'.
The three-day workshop is being organised by COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) in collaboration with international organisations and will focus on the study of interactions between climate, weather and society, in the local and regional context of South Asia. He said a database is also being prepared to cope with such a natural disaster in future.
Answering a question, he lamented the role of the opposition and said they should have participated in the donors' conference. He said the conference was arranged for humanitarian cause but the opposition members did not show positive response.
He said at this time of crisis, they (opposition) should not have indulged in personal and petty issues, rather play a positive role in the rescue and rehabilitation process. "We should set aside all our differences", he added. Earlier, addressing the workshop, he said, Pakistan is committed in making further progress on developing long-term solutions to climate change both with regard to mitigation and adaptation. "We must find fresh ways to cooperate further and share knowledge on clean development policies and low-carbon technology development and deployment", he said and added a major collective challenge is to develop and implement cleaner, more efficient technologies that allow for the continued economic use of fossil fuels while constraining emissions.
This, he said, will help not only control greenhouse gas emissions but will also deliver the co-benefits of improving air quality, energy security and industrial efficiency.
"We are in danger of being wiped off the face of the earth. But climate change does confront us with profound new realities. We face these new realities as a nation, as members of the world community, as consumers, as producers, and as investors", he said.
"Unless we do a better job of adjusting to these new realities, we will pay a heavy price", Nouraiz Shakoor added.
Nouraiz Shakoor said climate change initiatives should include commitments to research and development, technology, and a more efficient and productive use of energy and resources.
The actions we are seeing today are barely a start. There are plenty of steps we can take right now, starting with a systematic effort to improve energy efficiency throughout the economy-in our cars, our factories, our offices and our homes and we can invest in similar efforts around the world.
The Minister said he believes that to get this revolution going on, four major forces must be brought to bear. The first is technology or a vast array of new technologies, new fuels, new engines, new industrial processes, and new ways to generate electricity.
The second major force is the market place, because only the market place can mobilize the investment, the productive capacity, and the resourcefulness that will be needed.
He said there is also need of bringing to bear a third force-the force of government and the fourth one-the force of public opinion. On the occasion, Punjab Minister for Public health and Engineering, Raja Mushtaq Kiani commended CIIT for raising thisglobal issue at the national level and hoped the findings and proceedings would go a long way in deriving a solution to this global challenge.