The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), organized a workshop on the impact of heatwaves on food security and agriculture in the province, bringing together government officials, climate experts and humanitarian partners. Speaking at the event, PDMA officials highlighted Sindh’s increasing vulnerability to multiple climate-induced hazards, including floods, heatwaves, urban flooding and cyclones. Assistant Director Operations Ajay Kumar Sewani said the province had been experiencing frequent heatwave episodes since 2015, necessitating coordinated preparedness and response efforts.
He noted that PDMA, with the support of humanitarian organizations, had been actively managing heatwave situations through the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and their dissemination among relevant departments and stakeholders. “Recent engagements with NGOs working on climate change have focused on preparedness measures such as establishment of cooling shelters, provision of water and oral rehydration salts (ORS), and emergency response arrangements,” he said. Officials from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) also briefed participants on evolving heatwave patterns. Deputy Director Anjum Nazir Zaighum explained that a heatwave is declared when temperatures remain 4 to 5 degrees Celsius above normal for more than five consecutive days in a specific area, noting that thresholds may vary across regions.
In a detailed presentation, PDMA Climate and Environment Specialist Muhammad Khan Kabooro outlined the broader impacts of climate change on Pakistan, including glacier melt, rising sea levels, extreme heat, heavy rainfall, floods, cyclones and droughts. He warned that such phenomena disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, particularly farmers, livestock owners and daily wage earners. He further highlighted that Global temperatures are rising up to 1.5c, due to adverse impacts of Climate change and Global worming through the GHG emission while Pakistan has very little contribution to the Global emission which is 0.9%. Sindh is experiencing rise in consecutive hot days ranging from 46c – 49c, while this is not only due to GHG emissions but increase population, urban centers, deforestation, inadequate green cover, and concrete infrastructure, which trap the heat and make it worst even in night times.
The presentation also highlighted impacts of heatwave on human health and livelihood sources including Agriculture, Livestock, Crops, outdoor workers and their productivity, Education disruptions etc. also highlighted how PDMA Sindh is addressing this issue linking with the learning’s from 2015, 2024, and 2025 Heatwave management interventions through the coordination with support departments, humanitarian actors and UN agencies through provisions of Health services, improved water and cooling services, increasing awareness and introducing anticipatory actions through development of heatwave management SOPs at provincial level. He also focused on taking coordinated measures as the climate change and its adverse impacts are not only responsibility of PDMA Sindh but it must come in responsibility of every support function, community and individual to stay safe and enable safety environment through adapting long-term nature-based solutions to keep the earth cool and safe for human being.
PDMA officials stressed that addressing climate change requires collective action across sectors, communities and individuals, alongside sustained investment in nature-based solutions such as urban greening and sustainable environmental management. The workshop was attended by Abdul Majid Khan, Director Press Information, Pedro A. Garzon, Project Manager Food and Agriculture Organization, Shagufta Ahmed, Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Wash Dev Khatri, Director PMD, Anjum Nazir Zaighum, Deputy Director PMD, Rustam, WFP, Mubashir Hussain, FAO and other representatives from PDMA Sindh, Rescue 1122, PMD, FAO, the World Food Program (WFP), other relevant departments and organizations.