Pakistan beset with challenges due to global warming

Coordinated climate action vital to tackling adverse climate change impacts

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is beset with the worst socio-economic, sustainability and air pollution-related challenges due to global warming-caused climate crisis and soaring global environmental degradation, PM’s Adviser on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said.

“However, tackling these challenges, which are badly affecting the country’s socio-economic sectors, lives and livelihoods of the people, particularly farmers, the marginalised and poor communities , requires urgent and nationally-coordinated response,” he said during his keynote address to the participants of the ‘Rising Pakistan’ event the EcoPartnerships - Climate Initiatives Platform, an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The core of the EcoPartnerships Programme is the peer-to-peer collaboration that occurs at the partner level. These partners pursue innovative pilot projects that are recognized and facilitated by a Secretariat in each country.

Aslam warned, “Failing to do so would only exacerbate impacts of climate change by causing economic slowdown, increasing poverty, hunger, mal-nutrition levels and disease burden.” He said further that due to global warming the country is facing a growing water crisis as rainfall patterns are rapidly shifting and showing declining trends, which could increase drought frequency and intensity as well as speed up groundwater depletion. Besides, the country’s glaciers are melting at a much faster rate, causing a rise in frequency and intensity of the riverine floods, particularly in upper parts of the country.

As a result, livelihoods of farming communities in northern and southern regions and mountain communities in northwest regions are a stake, the prime minister’s adviser told the event participants.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2019.