Speaking during the “Climate and Sustainability” session, Sadia Dada, Chief Distribution and Marcomms Officer at K-Electric (KE), highlighted the disconnect between high-level policy discussions and community-level engagement.
“While climate change has long been on policy agendas, the bottom-end user still does not understand the narrative-if we lose them, we lose the momentum,” Dada stated. She stressed the importance of tailoring messages that resonate with everyday realities to encourage ethical consumption, energy conservation, and community participation.
Dada cited KE’s award-winning Roshni Baji Programme as a successful example of localised climate action. By hiring female safety ambassadors (Roshni Bajis), KE has reached nearly a million households, educating communities on electricity safety-particularly in areas where male staff faced access challenges during daytime visits.
She also pointed to urban infrastructure challenges, grid stress, and safety risks in densely populated communities, noting that women and children remain key agents of change. “Children are far more receptive to sustainable ideologies,” Dada said, advocating for climate education to be reintroduced in schools.
On the digital front, she shared that over half a million KE users have shifted to e-billing, reducing paper waste and operational inefficiencies-a small change with significant sustainability gains.
Dr Samuel Rizk (UNDP Pakistan) warned of Pakistan’s extreme vulnerability to floods, droughts, and glacial lake outbursts, urging a shift from recovery to preparedness.
“A single event can claim 20,000 lives and destroy millions of households,” he said, calling for greater investment in early warning systems and localized solutions.