Experts at the Pakistan Water Week 2025 conference warned that Pakistan cannot achieve sustainable resilience unless water, food, and climate challenges are addressed through a single, integrated policy framework. They stressed that tackling these issues separately weakens national preparedness and called for stronger collaboration among governments, scientists, and communities. The event, themed “From Scarcity to Sustainability: Collaborative Pathways for Water, Food, and Climate Resilience,” brought together experts from across Pakistan and abroad.
Organised by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Pakistan with support from PCRWR, CGIAR, the EU, FCDO, UNICEF, and ICIMOD, the conference serves as a platform for policymakers and researchers to design practical solutions. Participants highlighted that Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change is deepening, with prolonged droughts, devastating floods, and declining groundwater posing an existential threat to livelihoods, agriculture, and national stability.
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Former irrigation and finance minister Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari, the chief guest, emphasised that Pakistan is already witnessing the harsh realities of climate change through erratic water patterns, from extreme droughts to unprecedented floods. However, he said, water still remains politically under-prioritised in climate debates. “Collaboration is the force multiplier that turns scarcity into sustainability,” he remarked, urging joint regional efforts and integrated decision-making at all policy levels.
In her keynote address, IWMI Deputy Director General Dr. Rachael McDonnell said the conference comes at a defining moment for Pakistan, as the country continues to recover from deadly floods that killed over 1,000 people and affected seven million earlier this year. She noted that Pakistan now has only 900 cubic meters of water per person annually, a dramatic decline from the safe threshold, warning that “the water crisis is a climate crisis.” She called for water to be placed at the heart of global climate negotiations, especially in upcoming COP processes.
Meanwhile, IWMI Pakistan Director Dr. Mohsin Hafeez cautioned that Pakistan’s rapidly growing population is pushing fragile water systems to the brink. Agriculture, he explained, consumes the majority of available water while urban demand is expanding at an unsustainable pace. He stressed that Pakistan is transitioning from being “water-stressed” to “water-scarce,” underscoring the urgent need for innovative technologies, better governance, and community-led action to ensure long-term water security and economic resilience.