THE latest State Bank report documenting recurring climatic disasters in Pakistan during the period between 2000 and 2024 reaffirms what these columns have long warned. Climate change can no longer be treated merely as an environmental concern. It has already evolved into a major economic risk and existential threat for the country. In its section on climate change and its impact on Pakistan’s economy, the new biannual SBP State of Pakistan’s Economy report shows that climate change is not a distant risk for countries like ours. The effects of its impact are visible in lost livelihoods, damaged infrastructure and slowing economic activity.

The impact of climate change is more pronounced in Pakistan, which is 15th on the list of countries that have been most affected by extreme weather events over the last three decades. Climate disasters here have been higher than global and regional averages in 2000-2024, as well as in the preceding two decades. Moreover, signs of continued climate stress in Pakistan are increasingly being manifested through higher temperatures, erratic rainfall, rising sea levels, and rapid glacial retreat, says the report, making it a reality difficult to ignore. The economic implications of increasing extreme climate events for Pakistan are severe. The projections cited, like potential GDP loss of 4.5pc to 9pc by 2050 depending on climate scenarios, must be taken seriously and not dismissed as a distant future concern. The gradual erosion of the economy’s productive capacity is already taking place. This would not merely slow growth, it would also weaken our economic foundations. What makes the situation more alarming is that Pakistan is not facing isolated environmental shocks but compounding risks. Heatwaves intensify glacial melt, erratic monsoon patterns trigger flooding, and water stress affects both agriculture and energy production simultaneously. The devastating 2022 floods demonstrated how quickly climatic events can overwhelm economic systems, wiping out infrastructure, livelihoods and fiscal space within weeks if not days. The estimated damage from that single disaster nearly matched the cumulative climate-related economic losses recorded over the previous three decades. The warning signs are everywhere. The question is: when will policymakers start treating climate change as a long-term structural threat requiring a transformation of the economic planning and development model itself?

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2026