Lahore: June 7, 2012. (Pervez Yousaf) St. Joseph’s Church Lahore Cantt organized a talk on the occasion of “World Environment Day 2012” with the global theme of “Green Economy”. The main objective of celebrating the day with the parishioners of St. Joseph Church was to enhance their understanding about environmental issues and encourage them to express their feelings or learning about environment. Around 150 participants from different walks of life were present on this occasion along with representatives of different groups functioning in the parish. Welcoming all the participants and guests Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap, the parish priest of St. Joseph’s Church urged them to be aware of their living environment and take practical measures starting from their doorsteps to protect environment. He also said that St. Francis of Assisi loved nature and he was a strong promoter of environment conservation. Therefore, we respect the thought of St. Francis of Assisi and celebrate this day to show our love and concern with the nature and the “Mother Earth”. Mr. Amir Irfan (National Coordinator-Livelihood Program of Caritas Pakistan) facilitating the session explained about the background and history of environment day. He also facilitated a session through video documentaries and highlighted the beauty of planet earth, environment pollution and alerted about some causes and effects of climate changes on our lives. According to him, some of the main causes of climate changes are global warming, carbon emissions, and deforestation. Due to these reasons, the people living on the planet earth are suffering from natural disasters, hunger, drought, loss of wildlife, and energy crisis. He further said that the community should and can play a pro-active role in reducing the causes and consequences of environmental pollution by educating family and friends; using energy saving lights; avoiding use of plastic shopper bags; using boiled water for drinking; and by following proper rules of solid waste management system. At the end Mr. Abbas Masih, General Secretary of the Parish Council extended word of thanks and expressed his appreciation about this meaningful and important session.