Why Climate Action Fails in Pakistan

Why Climate Action Fails in Pakistan: Despite contributing less than 1% of global greenhouse gases, Pakistan is among the world’s most severely affected countries. Critics attribute this devastation to a lack of attention to the three R’s: risk assessment, risk preparedness, and risk management. 

Pakistan has consistently participated in international climate conferences. The establishment of the Environment & Urban Affairs Division in 1975 was a product of Pakistan’s first formal response to global warming, following the 1972 Stockholm Declaration of the UN Conference. Later, under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997 (PEPA), Federal and Provincial Environmental Protection Agencies were established.

These agencies were empowered to undertake enquiries and obtain search warrants from a magistrate for any individual or organisation violating environmental rules. Then came the Climate Change Act of 2017, under which the Climate Change Authority was established with the task of preparing projects aimed at reducing emissions and controlling deforestation. Although there are measures for protecting the environment in the form of acts and ordinances, it’s unfortunate that a comprehensive policy document on climate change surfaced as late as 2005. 

Why Climate Action Fails in Pakistan

However, it was only in 2021 that the extensive climate policy document, NCCP 2021, provided a broad framework that encompasses every sector vulnerable to climate change, with special focus on measures for adaptation and mitigation. It is a well-written policy document that emphasises alignment with the SDGs and provides a plan for a renewable energy transition, disaster preparedness, capacity building, institutional strengthening, technology transfer, and international cooperation. For implementation, Climate Change Policy Implementation Committees were planned at both the federal and provincial levels. However, paperwork will not suffice the need to deliver tangible results, as our experience reveals that implementation is still the most neglected area. 

Unfortunately, our provinces — Punjab, KP, and Sindh — stand among the worst afflicted by these recurring disasters. The recent monsoon has claimed more than 800 lives, according to NDMA reports. The losses to our agricultural economy from this damage are nothing short of billions. The devastation in KP reflects that for the past years, the government has remained largely indifferent towards climate adaptation measures. Programmes like the Ten Billion Tsunami Project failed to achieve their stated targets; on top of that, timber mafias continue unchecked in KP, worsening deforestation. It is a sad reality that amid counter-terrorism operations, displaced families in camps are also suffering from harsh weather.

What’s more, land mafias have sold the plots on the riverbed in Lahore at a very low rate with total impunity and connivance of the concerned government authorities, now submerged and destroyed in the flood. With growing population pressure, political challenges, terrorism, and poor administration, worsening climate conditions are compounding the overall political landscape of the country. 

Pakistan’s contribution amounts to only 1% yet we are paying one of the heaviest prices. The major contributors, China and the US, must acknowledge the destruction their emissions are causing. With painfully slow progress on climate actions and without significant GHG emission cuts from major polluters, our country will continue to suffer.

Many developing countries are attracting a good deal of international climate finance, whereas Pakistan is far behind in seizing such opportunities. It should be the government’s deep concern that we are not prepared for the present challenges. Pakistan is moving in the right direction with projects like WASH, the Green Building Code, Ecosystem Restoration, and Clean Energy, although the implementation of these projects remains sluggish. In COP29 held in Baku, affected countries have demanded climate finance in the trillions; actual commitments remain under $1 billion, far short of what is needed. Such an effort is far from keeping Pakistan safe from recurring catastrophes. 

Despite Pakistan investing in EV and near-zero emission efforts for its vast coal reserves, efforts in adaptation seem unsatisfactory. Despite Pakistan’s vulnerability, recent budgets have reduced adaptation financing, with mitigation continuing to take the larger share. Given that we contribute only 1% to emissions, we should prioritise spending more on adaptation. Adaptation demands curbing the timber mafias that destroy forests, aggressively promoting afforestation to reduce the risks posed by flash floods, upgrading storm drainage systems, investing in flood-resistant crops, ensuring flood-resistant building materials, and creating shelters to relocate people during disasters. It requires a sharp eye on risk preparation and risk management. 

Not only that, but bringing real estate under strict regulation is equally important. Housing societies built recklessly over river belts must be fined heavily. Such irresponsible development has already created havoc with urban flooding, drowning entire neighbourhoods. Above all, climate-related departments must face strict accountability. It has never been observed that the ministries responsible for climate change, along with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is the most powerful standing committee in parliament, have held the relevant climate change departments accountable. 

Pakistan has the right to secure funds from the ADB and the international community through mechanisms like climate financing and the Green Building Code. The country must step up its efforts, yet without strong structures of devolution, it will be challenging to achieve results. Climate justice demands effective laws, a fair budget, and leadership that leads from the front.