LAHORE: The School Education Department, south Punjab, on Tuesday launched climate change as a separate subject of formal teaching in all public schools.

At a time when the nation is still reeling from the shock of devastadng floods, the Punjab government has taken a step in the right direction to launch the project to be taught as a separate subject at public schools.

In the ñrst phase, the project is being rolled out in south Punjab only, which has been severely hit by the calamity.

The hallmark of the project is the Children`s Green Book, which has been prepared under the overall supervision of Minister of School Education Murad Raas over a period of around two years with input from all stakeholders, including the subject experts.

The book covers alltopics related to climate change as well as allied matters such as forestry, agriculture, horticulture and more.

It is full of colourful pictures, graphics and illustrations and revolves around the story of a young boy and girl who not only seem to understand the perils associated with the phenomenon of cli-mate change but also strive to play their roles in spreading awareness in society.

The department has also launched a special website, www.thechildrengreenbook.net and a digital version of the book has been placed there for the beneñt of the general public.

Pakistan is the fifth most affected country by the phenomenon of climate change, as was evident by the havoc caused by the recent noods, and therefore needs to undertake some long-term extraordinary steps.

According to Unesco report, `Getting every school climate-ready, no country is currently teaching climate change as a separate subject to its children in public schools.

Pakistan thus secured the honour of being the first country to undertake this much-needed initiative.

In a related development, the School Education Department, South Punjab and the Forestry Department, South Punjab have jointly inaugurated an ambitious project of establishing 256 Miyawaki forests in as many public schools of all 43 tehsils of 11 districts of the region. Out of this total, 138 forests have been planted in boys` schools and 118 in girls` schools.