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Aga Khan varsity pledges to fight carbon emissions
Some of the students who graduated at the Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- At least 660 students were awarded diplomas and degrees at the university graduation ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday.
The Aga Khan University (AKU) leadership has committed to become carbon neutral in all its undertakings by the fall of 2030, placing it among the first institutions in East Africa and Pakistan to make the pledge.
The pledge was made by climate scientist and activist Dr Peter Kalmus during the graduation ceremony of more than 660 students at the Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday.
The pledge attracted unanimous support from other speakers and the congregants.
“We need a huge number of engaged, passionate and courageous climate activists. We need to come together, with courage, conviction, and creativity, to stop the meteor that’s hurtling toward us,” Mr Kalmus, who was also the chief guest at the ceremony, said.
He added: “No one is safe from global heating. There is no hiding from it on this tiny, connected, pale blue dot of a planet.”
The university chancellor, in a message delivered by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, said: “Globally, AKU has educated 18,000 individuals. It cares for more than two million patients every year from internationally accredited hospitals, and was recently ranked among the top 100 universities in the world in public health.”
He added: “It also serves as a trusted advisor to government, and is a powerful advocate for pluralism and women’s empowerment. During the [Covid-19] pandemic, the value of the university’s capacity for cutting-edge inquiry has never been clearer.”
At the ceremony, AKU’s third president, Mr Sulaiman Shahabuddin, delivered his inauguration speech.
“[I am] profoundly honoured to have been chosen to serve by our Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan,” Mr Shahabuddin said before pledging to steer the university towards churning out students, who not only provide solutions to the challenges that plague society, but also create jobs.
The students who were awarded diplomas and degrees yesterday were drawn from the Aga Khan University’s Medical Colleges, Schools of Nursing and Midwifery; Institute for Educational Development; Graduate School of Media and Communications; and Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations.
Carbon neutrality
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the ‘post-carbon economy’). The term is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industry.
