Climate change is a reality, an ugly and deadly one if put into the context of deaths occurred due to extreme weather calamities in Pakistan and all over the world. According to the Geremenwatch 2020 report, more than 526,000 people have died all over the world, and losses of $3.3 trillion were incurred from 1998 to 2018 in 11,500 climate change related factors. Pakistan suffered 9,989 deaths and economic losses of $3.8 billion due to more than 300 extreme weather events in the period. The report put Pakistan on fifth on the Global Climate Risk Index 2020, the list of nations most affected by climate change. The ranking shows Pakistan downgrading in terms of environmental security as the 2018 report had put Pakistan as the eighth most vulnerable country. Things are going from bad to the worse, as the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report of 2016 predicts “increasing impacts and resulting increases in global adaptation costs by 2030 or 2050 that will likely be much higher than currently expected: two-to-three times higher than current global estimates by 2030, and potentially four-to-five times higher by 2050.” The toll can be slowed down if the Paris Agreement is implemented, and enhanced mitigation actions towards limiting global temperature increase are taken.
The report notes that though developed countries are feeling the heat of the climate change and extreme weather, it is the developing countries that are at the immediate receiving end. As per the report, the ten countries most hit by natural calamities are Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, the Philippines, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal and Dominica. The developing countries may not be able to weather the extreme weather; coordinated efforts are needed to help them take measures for green climate. Side by side, the developed countries must limit their activities that are hurting the environment the most, and increase financing to achieve the goal of lowering global warming.
Pakistan’s geographic location and weak environment related laws make it more vulnerable to climate change and make it “prone to extreme weather events, in particular, heavy rainfalls.” Some areas of Pakistan, however, experience draught, another sign of climate change. In recent years, Pakistan has taken significant environmental friendly steps; initiating mass tree plantation drive, switching over to green automobile (electric vehicles), releasing grants for industry to fight air pollution, and introduction of Euro four oil are a few worthwhile measures towards a Green and Clean Pakistan. The government needs to keep tracking the execution of its promises to mitigate the damage inflicted by changing weather patterns. *