Clean and Green Pakistan – A need of the hour

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday posted a video shared by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in which it praised Pakistan’s environmental policies, climate action plan, and response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan is considered one of the most environmentally-threatened countries in the world. Let’s take an in-depth review of the PTI-led federal government’s policies to tackle global warming and minimise the effects of climate change.

WEF appreciates Pakistan’s policies

The World Economic Forum (WEF) appreciated Pakistan’s environmental policies, climate action plan, and response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in a video released on Sunday (March 14, 2021).

The video was also shared by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Twitter with a caption: “The effectiveness of the PTI’s policies in combating environmental hazards, particularly in curbing coronavirus along with the “Green Recovery Program” and “Climate Action Plan” is being recognized globally.”

The forum, through its video, highlighted the three ways in which Pakistan is moving ahead towards a greener future. “Pakistan has pledged to source 60 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030,” reads the text of the video.

WEF has also acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts towards the creation of 15 new national parks. “As the pandemic devastates the globe, and climate change threatens our way of life, our relationship with nature demands us to rethink,” the video concludes.

The climate change task and PTI’s policies

Pakistan ranks 7th on the most adversely affected countries due to climate change. Both, climate change and environmental pollution pose a grave threat to Pakistan’s sustainable future. The negative impact on our weather pattern is already evident; rising temperatures, major flooding, prolonged droughts, and unpredictable rainfalls.

Pakistan received much less rainfall in January 2021 as compared to previous years, making it the 17th driest month in 60 years, according to the Met Office. Rainfall in February, as per the Met Office data, wasn’t significant either, but the countrywide rain in January was 59pc below the normal, indicating the possible impact of climate change.

The United Nations said that just 2.2 percent of the total land in Pakistan forms the forest area, even though the various local estimates put the same figure between 5 and 6%. In comparison, the total geographical area covered by forests in Sri Lanka is 30%, India 21.67% and Bangladesh 17.5%. Besides, the total forest cover in the world is 31%, and in Asia-Pacific it is 26%.

However, Prime Minister Imran Khan is taking measures to tackle the biggest issue. Imran Khan’s Billion Tree Tsunami programme, launched in 2014 by the PTI’s government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa — has been converted into Ten Billion Tree Tsunami programme to cover the whole of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister had also announced the launch of ‘Protective Area Initiative’ under which 15 national parks will be built in all federating units of the country. As part of the initiative, the coverage of the protected areas — which are described as locations that require protection because of their recognised natural, ecological or cultural values — will be enhanced to 15% of the total land area in the country.

Can we tackle Climate Change?

Numerous studies in recent years have found Pakistan’s climate becoming increasingly uncertain, resulting in frequent and devastating flooding in some regions and droughts in others, glacier melts, and — more importantly — temperatures higher than the global average.

Despite the government’s vision, we are not doing much to adapt to climate change, which makes us more vulnerable to its adverse impacts that may threaten the country’s food and water security and result in large displacements among the population.

While some measures have successfully been implemented in certain areas, we do not see much seriousness on the part of policymakers to take more action to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. The government must develop a comprehensive framework linking its mitigation efforts to its industrial, agricultural, energy-related and other policies and enforce it to reverse the impact of fast-changing climatic conditions.