‘Effective plan needed for climate resilience’

After facing a recurring phenomenon of natural catastrophes from scorching heat waves to massive inundation due to torrential monsoon, the country is in dire need of a long-term adaptation strategy founded on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to ensure climate resilience, Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman said.

The federal minister recently launched the country's largest NbS "Living Indus initiative" to conserve and protect the second most polluted river in the world. “Indus feeds entire agriculture and humanity living around it from north to south. So, we will have to ensure development in harmony with nature and not against nature,” Rehman explained.

A two-year project to develop the adaptation plan, supported by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and funded by the Green Climate Fund with $2.7 million, was formally launched back in March 2021. However, the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government kept the process slow and left the plan in limbo.

“Previous regime showed a criminal negligence in the formulation of national adaptation plan as many key initiatives related to adaptation merely ended up on papers,” she remarked. “Since, we have taken this issue very seriously. I assure you all-out efforts to prepare a much-needed climate adaptation plan by the end of this year,” she added.

Ranking among the top ten vulnerable countries to climatic changes as revealed by global watchdog ‘German Watch’, Pakistan direly needed a proper adaptation strategy or plan as its entire nature conservation efforts remained focused on climate mitigation.

A country’s National Adaptation Plan is mostly considered a significant tool or mechanism for adapting to climate change. Its objective is to enhance the resilience of a region against climate change effects by creating holistic medium and long-term plans, including the integration of adaptation measures into national policy.

Rehman said nature, topography and biodiversity of the Indus River change with every area it passes through. “Whenever there is a heavy downpour, the Indus explodes. Therefore, we need to find ways for reviving its natural routes.” Access to adaptation is imperative for climate change mitigation planning as the country's reliance on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, water and natural resources makes it more vulnerable to climate change.

“Since international climate negotiations began in 1990, global greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 62 per cent,” says Jessica Troni, Head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)’s Climate Change Adaptation Unit. “This shows us why adaptation must be seen as a core approach for tackling the climate crisis.”

“The National Plan process will strengthen the country’s capacity to promote adaptation at all levels of governance as it would help generate and share adaptation knowledge and experiences,” Troni said.

The UNEP globally assists countries to create National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) for identifying vulnerabilities, medium and long-term adaptation needs and processes to develop strategies. Global EbA Fund has also been launched in March 2021to overcome barriers to nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation by providing seed capital to innovative approaches.

“With the new nature-based solutions program, we are using the power of ecosystems to help societies adapt to climate change,” said Executive Director UNEP, Inger Andersen. “Ecosystem-based adaptation is being undertaken by more and more governments and organisations the world over as it is not only us who protect nature, but nature also protects us.”

The NAP approach was established under the Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF) and re-emphasized in the Paris Agreement. Importantly, the NAPs follow a tedious country-driven, participatory and transparent process. Important components of NAPs are to ensure a shift in living standards, change in agricultural practice, make industrial operations environment-friendly, amendments in urban planning and make rural and urban areas resilient to climate change by reducing their vulnerability.

The UNEP supports the development of NAP’s important components like the National Adaptation Plan Global Support Program (NAP-GSP) funded by the Global Environment Facility providing support to over 45 countries with developing nations like Nepal, Bangladesh and Yemen already benefitting from this initiative.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in its recent study conducted in Sindh and Balochistan provinces has also recommended mitigating the effects of natural catastrophes through informed policy guidelines at the local level.

Executive Director Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said that informed decision-making and enhanced resilience were all about adaptation at the local level. “The catastrophes turning into human disasters can be avoided through well-conceived policies and their strong implementation.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2022.