Didar Ali, a student at AKU’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, still clearly remembers the terror brought on by the 2010 floods that destroyed his village in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district. He was a young child at the time, but he remembers seeing homes, agricultural crops, and roads swept away as rivers swelled and burst. “Climate crises would wreak havoc year after year,” he recalls. “People in my village would just say, ‘This is the will of God. There’s nothing we can do.’”
It wasn’t until high school that he first encountered the term climate change and began to do his own research. “Climate change wasn’t some divine mystery. It was human made,” he explains. “And the people paying the highest price weren’t the ones causing the problem.” In his community and others across Pakistan – as he later found out - people were living through climate change’s tragic consequences without ever fully understanding what was happening or how to put a stop to it.
It was this realisation that spurred Didar onto climate advocacy and awareness efforts and which led him throughout Pakistan and eventually on the stage of
COP29 – the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan. His core mission? To inform those most affected by climate change, amplify their voices, and help make them part of the solutions.
“In Chitral, our efforts have borne fruit in amazing ways.” Working with Booni Environmental Academy and others, Didar helped integrate environmental education with sports. In a deeply conservative region where girls were often excluded from outdoor activities, he helped introduce winter sports like ice hockey for girls. Two years later, the girls’ team won the national championship in Gilgit-Baltistan—and were celebrated widely by the community. “One of the members of the Academy, Manahil Akbar even went on to represent Pakistan in Olympic Council of Asia in Uzbekistan”
But it was during a climate camp in Balochistan, where Didar engaged youth from vulnerable communities, that he truly began to understand the scale of change needed in Pakistan.
“In international climate spaces, we talk about solar energy and electric cars—but in places like Balochistan, people don’t have clean water, food, or access to basic health care. How can you ask someone to go green when their basic needs aren’t met? That’s why those on the frontlines must be at the policy table—they understand their struggles and should decide what’s best for their future.”
Didar’s thirst for learning has led him to explore various avenues both independently and as a member of climate action organisations. This includes research into Energy decarbonization in Central Asia at the University of Central Asia , piloting Agrivolt – a unique agriculture technique combining solar power production with crop production and organising climate camps across various cities.
Didar says his work is only just beginning. “Being a student, my purpose of learning is to see what is right, what is wrong and how can we contribute to the society…this is my mantra and why invest myself so heavily in raising awareness among the youth.”
Yet he remains hopeful. “In Pakistan, so many young people are active in the climate space. I’m proud to collaborate with them — some have even started their own organisations and are doing incredible work.”
