Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Musadik Malik on Friday argued that the world’s water crisis was fundamentally a question of justice rather than scarcity, saying vulnerable communities were increasingly suffering the combined effects of climate change and upstream control of transboundary rivers.
Addressing the Transboundary Water Resources Seminar organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and the Embassy of Pakistan in Brussels, the minister said the problem facing millions of people was not simply floods or droughts, but that others often made decisions affecting water availability.
“The problem is neither the scarcity of water nor the floods,” he said. “It’s someone else having their hand on the tap that allows for the water to flow.”
To illustrate the human consequences of climate-related disasters, Dr Malik recounted the story of Iqbal Solangi, a farmer living where two Pakistani provinces meet. Solangi was hit by floods in 2010, rebuilt his life, suffered another devastating flood in 2012, recovered again, and was eventually displaced after a third disaster.
According to the minister, seven generations of farming were lost, livestock accumulated over two generations disappeared, children dropped out of school and the family was forced to move to an urban area.
“He was devastated by floods followed by droughts, droughts that would crack his land, followed by floods again and droughts again,” Dr Malik said.
The minister argued that Solangi’s experience reflected a broader global challenge in which vulnerable populations bear the consequences of decisions they had no role in making. “If someone else, who is not Solangi, decides when he’s going to be inundated and when he’s going to starve, then it doesn’t become a problem of water; it becomes a problem of justice,” he said.
Dr Malik said Pakistan’s experience was not unique, pointing to communities in Bangladesh and elsewhere whose lives depended on water flows they could not control. He also referred to women forced to walk long distances daily to fetch water after local water sources had receded.
“This is not a crisis in her life. This is her life,” he said.
The minister described what he called a “double bind” facing climate-vulnerable countries. On one hand, he said, major carbon emitters were contributing to global warming, glacier melt and extreme weather events. On the other hand, upstream control of water resources added further pressure on downstream communities.
He noted that three countries account for 56 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, while 10 countries produce 70pc of emissions and receive 80pc of green financing.
“We are 220 million people and we produce less than one per cent of carbon dioxide emissions,” he said.
Referring to Pakistan’s climate-related losses, Dr Malik said approximately 6,000 people had died over the past 15 years, around 19,000 had been injured or disabled, and an estimated 1.8 billion school days had been lost.
The minister also linked climate change with transboundary water management, saying Pakistan faced the combined impact of glacier melt, changing hydrological patterns and uncertainty regarding shared rivers.
He referred to Pakistan’s neighbour as the world’s third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide and said the same country that contributed to warming was also in a position to influence water flows affecting downstream populations.
Dr Malik cited sharp fluctuations in flows at a point on the Chenab River, saying water levels had changed from around 18,000 cusecs to 1,500 cusecs within two days despite no rainfall.
“When 18,000 cusecs of water flow drops to 1,500, or starts from 1,500 and goes to 18,000 within two days with no rainfall, it’s not rainfall, it’s something else,” he said. “And that something else is transboundary water.”
The minister said the issue extended beyond the Indus Waters Treaty and touched on the wider principle of a rules-based international order.
“When you’re talking about the Indus Waters Treaty, you’re not talking about one treaty. You’re talking about the rules-based regime,” he said.
Dr Malik urged academics, policymakers and international institutions to raise their voices against injustice in both climate governance and transboundary water management. “I think it’s a problem of rights. I think it’s a problem of justice,” he said.
The minister stressed that Pakistan’s concerns were not directed against ordinary people living across the border, saying poor farmers on both sides faced similar threats from changing monsoon patterns, climate change and environmental degradation.
“We are not against the poor people living across the border in India. Why would we be against them? They’re equally poor,” he said.
Warning about the consequences of disrupting river flows, Dr Malik said around 40pc of Pakistan’s population depended on agriculture, the sector accounted for roughly 25pc of GDP and underpinned the country’s food security.