Coca-Cola and WWF-Pakistan collaborate with Pakistan’s first green TEDx event

As part of a joint initiative on tackling plastic waste pollution in Pakistan, Coca-Cola and WWF-Pakistan collaborated with Pakistan’s first-ever TEDx green event held in Lahore following the theme of ‘Imagined Futures’. The event was organized at the Ali Institute on Sunday, October 20, 2019, and was attended by over 500 guests from all walks of life including students, teachers, professionals and experts from science and humanities.

This was a ‘green event’ because all the carbon footprint generated through this event was planned to be set off by planting trees in partnership with Coca-Cola Pakistan. Moreover, all plastic beverage bottles at the event were also collected for recycling as part of Coca-Cola’s ‘Pakistan Without Waste’ program – to invest in solutions for plastic waste management.

A total of seven well-noted speakers and one performer participated in the event curating ideas on various topics that can possibly influence or shape our future, including environment and plastic waste management.

“This is a perfect example of establishing social partnerships to protect our combined future, with companies like Coca-Cola joining hands with social organizations like WWF-Pakistan and social advocacy platforms like TEDx, coming together to discover solutions and ideas that resonate to a wider audience and suggest ways of understanding the immediate threats to our environment more clearly and how we can tackle them as one team” commented Fahad Qadir, Director Public Affairs & Communications, Coca-Cola Pakistan & Afghanistan Region.

Speaking about the event, Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General, WWF-Pakistan said, “This year’s theme of TEDxLahore is Imagined Futures, which is relevant to the work we are doing for the past five decades in promoting environmental education and awareness as one of the key components of achieving our mission of conserving the environment in Pakistan. Looking back at how we have shaped the narrative of the environmental debate in the country reiterates the importance of platforms like TEDx.” He added that TEDx events share ideas, covering a broad spectrum from science to business to global issues. “Through such events, we aim to motivate people to think about nature conservation and explore ideas in protecting the Earth’s natural resources for a sustainable future.”

Talking about the event, Irteza Ubaid, Curator at TEDxLahore said, “In its tenth year, TEDxLahore is not only the oldest running TEDx event in Pakistan but also, one of the first few TEDx events globally. Organized under license by TED, TEDxLahore has been instrumental in giving a platform to the community to share their ideas and stories and have successfully helped shape the local discourse in our community to move towards a more resilient and sustainable society. TEDxLahore is a platform for the community by the community”.

Apart from taking numerous initiatives to promote nature conservation, ecosystem management, and sustainable practices, WWF-Pakistan promotes innovative ideas to tackle the environmental issues of today. It regularly funds projects and research submitted through its Small Grants Programme as well as the Green Innovation Challenge. Through the partnership, it also aims to highlight the good work that is already taking place in the country and to encourage other innovators and change makers to come forward.