Pakistan, a country spanning over almost 800,000 sq. km and with a population of roughly 212.2 million people, it is located near the Himalayas, which lay to the north whilst the south borders the Indian ocean. Due to its unique geographic location, fragile socioeconomics and a vulnerable population (in 2015, 24.3% of the population living below the national poverty line), Pakistan is susceptible to a range of extreme weather conditions and natural events, evidently linked or induced from climate change, such as riverine flooding, droughts, earthquakes, landslides, pest attacks and more. Over a span of 20 years, Pakistan ranks 5th most affected country from climate change according to Global Climate Risk Index of 2020 by German Watch. Pakistan has seen severe socioeconomic impacts and implications due to these events. Through the understanding of climate change, these events are predicted to intensify and increase in frequency if proper mitigation efforts are not implemented.
Climate change directly affects all three sectors of the country, economy, environment and society, all at times linked. Around 24% of the economy (GDP) is based on agriculture and constitutes to 48% of employed labor force. Climate change induces drastic changes in weather patterns e.g. reduced rainfall, drier and hotter summers and more intense droughts affect agricultural produce, impacting economy and livelihoods. Crop production is altered which then affects the economy i.e. less produce to sell, less influx into the economy. As the impacts are felt on flora, Pakistan’s fauna has also seen challenges. With rising temperatures, population rise and release of harmful toxins and gases from unsustainable practices which reduce habitats and increase competition, native species such as snow leopards, Markhors and brown bears numbers have reduced and are now listed as endangered.
Almost 50% of Pakistan’s labor force earn their livelihoods from agriculture, and as climate change impacts agriculture, therefore livelihoods are put at risk. Furthermore, climate change has caused several natural events, which are labeled disasters on the unfortunate event of loss of life. Destruction of infrastructure and regional instability are felt for long periods after the event. One of Pakistan’s most notable natural event was the 2010 floods.
In 2010 Pakistan faced one of the worst natural events recorded globally, these floods caused major loss of life and severe impact on the economy for that year. These floods had affected the flatter ports of the provinces of Punjab, Baluchistan and northern Sindh. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) estimated that the floods affected over 20 million people, covering over 100,000 sq. km. About 1.7 million homes were destroyed with 1,985 total reported deaths (nearly 2,946 injured), with tens of thousands perished animals. The floods also damaged more than 1300 villages, urban centers, and economic infrastructures such as roads, bridges, hydro-power and rural based industries. According to UN estimates, about 12 million of the affected people were in need of support.
In more recent times the substantial damage done by climate change was in Karachi in 2020, the business hub of Pakistan. Changing climatic conditions have caused monsoons to be more fierce and unpredictable each year. This year Karachi faced the worst of the monsoon rain with 345mm downpour in a single day, breaking records from 1984. Half of Karachi was flooded and nearly 100 people lost their lives. It was estimated that Pakistan suffered a loss of $449 million each day throughout the monsoon flooding. Thousands of homes were destroyed, and masses were displaced. World Bank estimates that 15% of Gross Domestic Product of the Sindh province including Karachi is lost every year to environmental damage and climate change.
We’ve seen the impacts climate change has had on Pakistan and its people. Pakistan signed and ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement and submitted it’s INDC’s (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution) in response to the new universal agreement of preventing global temperature rising above 2 degrees Celsius. An international response to limiting the implications of climate change are urgently required. These efforts are null and void if local policies and strategies are not in place. Pakistan needs robust, updated environmental policies that see among others national emissions being limited. Sustainable change also requires the backing of the population, therefore awareness amongst the masses is needed so that individual level efforts are also implemented for a greener future.
Pakistan is at high risk to climate change, and its effects are only understood to intensify, it is hoped that newly forged agreements and national efforts reap positive affects for a country full of diversity, prosperity and potential.
The writer studies economics at the University of Ottawa, Canada
