Pakistan must promote and incentivize afforestation and reforestation to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide and enhance resilience to climate change impacts such as floods and droughts.
ByProf. S. Shafiq ur Rehman | July 2024
Over the past five decades, Pakistan has intermittently but heavily suffered from different sub-types of climate-related disasters that took a cumulative death of over 10,000 people, left thousands injured or disabled, and millions displaced from their homes. Such large-scale devastation, experienced in all country provinces, has immensely impacted the already fragile economy. The World Bank and other international agencies report total economic losses of US$ 29.3 billion during 1992-2021 and an additional US$ 30 billion from the 2022 floods. Such high risk and vulnerability of the country established by the Global Climate Risk Index is evident from their latest published report (2021), which included 20 years of data from 2000 to 2019, making Pakistan the 8th most vulnerable country globally. The data also indicates we are at the highest risk from riverine, flash, and coastal floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones.
Some of the most horrific disasters experienced by Pakistan include the July-August 2010 floods across Pakistan, the June-2015 heatwave in Karachi and other cities of Sindh, flashfloods caused by intense monsoon rainfall in July 2019, the July-August 2022 floods across Pakistan, more than two dozen incidents of glacial-lake outburst floods reported from the Himalaya-Karakoram-Hindukush region, and the June 2007 Cyclone Yemyin, the June 2010 Cyclone Phet, the October 2014 Cyclone Nilofer, the October 2021 Cyclone Shaheen, and the June 2023 Cyclone Biparjoy.
Given the rather high disaster risk from back-to-back extreme weather events throughout the country, seen in the backdrop of prevailing political instability, high inflation rates, acts of terrorism, continued deforestation, and uncontrolled carbon emissions, the time and resources allocated by the federal and provincial governments are a complete mismatch to the need of the hour.
The dreadful impacts of climate change are certainly not limited to damages and destruction inflicted by extreme weather events alone, as Pakistan also faces grave challenges by way of issues created by water scarcity, food insecurity, health risks, sea level rise, erratic rainfall patterns, and depleting river flows in the long run. Addressing the impacts of climate change in Pakistan requires concerted efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, altogether prohibit deforestation, adapt to changing climatic conditions, and build resilience in the most vulnerable communities across the country. These include implementing policies and measures to promote renewable energy, improve water management, enhance disaster preparedness, and strengthen adaptation strategies across all sectors.
In Pakistan, addressing food security challenges requires efforts to enhance agricultural productivity, replace flood irrigation with more innovative and efficient sprinkle or drip irrigation, promote sustainable farming, and address issues related to political instability, democratic governance, and economic development. Strengthening social safety nets, investing in rural infrastructure, enhancing market access for small farmers, and promoting inclusive growth are essential factors that can build resilience to food insecurity. Fostering political stability, good governance, and conflict resolution efforts are critical for creating an enabling environment for sustainable development and food security.
Some of the preferred strategies for addressing the disastrous effects of climate change in Pakistan include investment in renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydel power. This means Pakistan needs to invest in indigenous production of solar panels, efficient batteries, and appliances through technology transfer from neighboring countries like China. Alongside the above, Pakistan must also promote and incentivize afforestation and reforestation to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide and enhance resilience to climate change impacts such as floods and droughts.
Rainwater harvesting and storage, stricter implementation of water conservation strategies and stoppage of wasteful freshwater use, appropriate pricing for industrial and agricultural usage, and construction of small dams in upstream catchment areas are also critical for mitigating the impacts of erratic rainfall and ensuring water security. Besides, strengthening communication and power infrastructure, establishing reliable warning systems at the lowest levels, such as villages and small towns, and improving the community’s resilience to cope with extreme weather events is crucial for the country.
Addressing the impacts of climate change in Pakistan requires concerted efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, altogether prohibit deforestation, adapt to changing climatic conditions, and build resilience in the most vulnerable communities across the country.
Promoting climate-friendly agriculture that includes agroforestry, reduced-tillage cultivation, crop rotation, crop leftovers, organic fertilizers, and nutrient management and mulching must be adopted at the farm level for optimal yield and control of GHG emissions. Additionally, education and awareness for the public, especially in higher education institutions, and the development and implementation of realistic and robust climate change policies, regulations, and incentives at national and sub-national levels must be incorporated into development planning and decision-making processes. Achieving all this, international cooperation, especially with neighboring countries, is paramount, as it will motivate and facilitate the research and innovation required to overcome such issues.
If the federal and provincial governments are serious about addressing the challenges mentioned above, special grants must be provided with a free hand to universities and R&D organizations in collaboration with industrial units to undertake experimental research to develop new indigenous technologies and processes. Development of locally made solar panels, storage batteries, and appliances is one of the most preferred areas our institutions need to focus on as a top priority. Similar is the case of wastewater treatment through reverse osmosis, again a very energy-intensive and expensive technique requiring innovation for cost-cutting. Besides, producing green hydrogen through electrolysis is one sure way of cutting down on carbon emissions, albeit very costly. The production cost must be reduced to use hydrogen fuel on a large scale. Hydrogen fuel can also be produced through the Steam Methane Reforming of natural gas, but the technology must capture and store the carbon to be climate-friendly.
Pakistan has already started working on the construction of two large and some small dams for storage of water and hydel power production; coal-fired power plants have been dropped from the CPEC program and converted to solar plants as well as introducing hybrid mass transit systems in major cities to control GHG emissions. Some new developments have also taken place in the agriculture sectors, but realistically, saving Pakistan from the perils of climate change is still a long way away!
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