LAHORE: Linking environmental issues to the economy and development as well as translating the climate change message into language people can relate to were identified as key needs at a ThinkFest session titled, ‘Is Climate Governance Working in Pakistan?’

Climate activist Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr said people remained detached from environmental issues because these were never presented in their own context and diction.

“If you ask people in Lahore about the Ravi, they will take time to respond. The same is the case with Karachiites about the Indus,” he said.

However, he added, the announcement of the Cholistan Canal project last year triggered strong opposition in Sindh, with the issue even being raised in Friday sermons. “The realisation was there because they saw it in the context of decreasing water levels in the Indus each year,” he added.

He suggested communities should identify with natural landmarks, saying Lahorites should attach their identity to the Ravi, people in Multan to the Sutlej and Sindh to the Indus.

Speakers at Thinkfest warn weak budgets, poor water control undermining climate action

Interestingly, he also compared the announcements during air travel to different destinations in Pakistan. He regretted that unlike the Islamabad-Gilgit flight, during which announcements were made about the mountains along the route, no anno­uncements were made during Karachi-Lahore flights or to other destinations when the plane flies over the lakes of Sanghar, Kirthar Hills or other such beautiful places.

Alleging that each project of the incumbent and of the PTI government was for the elite capture, Zulfikar Jr said the Cholistan agricultural land development was for the wealthy, as no ordinary citizen could get a contract of thousands of acres of land in Cholistan. He called for environmental issues to be linked with the economy and development agenda to broaden public engagement.

‘West-driven agenda’

World Wild Fund-Pakistan Director-General Hammad Naqi also urged policymakers to frame climate change as an economic, social and development issue and to counter the impression that it was a Western-driven agenda.

Lamenting at the low priority the successive governments are attaching to climate change, he said this was evident from the poor budget allocated for the environment department, whereas either a newcomer or a close-to-retirement secretary is posted to the environment department.

He regretted the inconsistency in government policies, regretting that if one government emphasises on tree plantation, the other focuses on infrastructure projects that are visible to the public eye. Likewise, every new secretary calls as rubbish the steps introduced by his predecessor, meaning inconsistency in policies and incapacity of the officials.

The WWF-P director general was also unhappy to see the lethargic attitude of the policymakers towards water management. “Only two sitting of the Punjab Water Commissions have been held during the last five years,” he said.

He said agriculture policy was also lagging behind climate needs amid limited progress on drought-resilient seeds for different crops and the continued neglect of crop zoning. He added that water-guzzling crops such as sugarcane and rice were still being promoted despite severe water scarcity in the country.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2026