PAKISTAN is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world that is susceptible to climate change, but very few studies have been conducted to measure the range and scale of climate change impact on its different sectors. Global climate change experts have identified Pakistan as part of the zone most likely to face the brunt of changing weather.

With Pakistan facing extreme weather patterns for the last decade, what is needed is not token measures such as guaranteed provisions of gas and electricity but a wholesale change in the approach to development.

In a rare move, the heads of European Union missions stationed in the country have impressed upon the government the need for taking urgent action on climate change because the cost of taking no action on adaptation measures would come to $6-14 billion annually by 2050.

The people of Pakistan risk paying a heavy price if resolute action is not taken here as well as on a global scale. The country already has an ambitious policy for fighting climate change that was adopted in 2012 and the structures are in place to implement it.

It is of crucial importance that this is followed up with the allocation of sufficient resources. There is a need for Pakistan to develop a strategy for institutional capacity building to respond to the situation. Also, the government needs to take significant steps to protect farmers, in particular, and provide them with new technology and seed varieties to meet the changed scenario.

Khan Faraz

Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2015

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