7
ISLAMABAD: After being devastated by the most severe flood in history, Pakistan has formally approved its first draft of the climate change policy.
“In fact Pakistan is among the few developing countries which has prepared such a comprehensive national policy on a subject which is on top of the global priority agenda may be after war on terror,” said Dr Qamaruzaman Chaudhary, former director general of Meteorological Department of Pakistan and leading author of the policy.
The policy draft has already been accepted by the country’s Ministry of Environment and is ready for the cabinet’s approval.
In 2008, the Climate Change Task Force was formed for the policy draft. Some 40 experts from different but related fields strived for two years to finalise it. The task force also consulted federal and provincial agencies, organisations and other experts.
The country has diverse ecosystems which include coastlines, deserts, arid zones, mountains and glaciers. These areas are in danger due to population growth, lack of planning and mismanagement.
For Pakistan, climate change is a reality as data of temperature from the last 100 years shows a visible increase in heat. It is also among the top countries vulnerable to climate change.
“Particularly, during the last two decades, extreme weather events like heavy rains, heat and droughts have increased,” Chaudhary said.
This pattern of extreme weather could be noticed in Thar. The region is an arid zone where drought arrives after every three years, and may stay put for 12 months or more. But there is a harsh twist in this pattern: the third drought in the cycle tends to be longer and more severe than the first two and parches the land for three years. This triggers the mass migration of locals to the other green areas.
The policy – from aims to implementations
The main objective of the policy is to sustain economic growth by addressing the challenges of climate change.
The sectors of water resources, agriculture, human health, forestry, biodiversity and others are also among the top priorities along with the areas of mountains, pastures, marine and coastal eco-systems. The policy is to also to be integrated by other related policies.
“The policy is a multi-sector approach in which the long term project will come under the National Climate Change Action Plane – a road map for adaptation and mitigation of serious problems,” said Jawed Ali Khan, Director General (Environment) at the Ministry of Environment.
The policy also stressed upon the importance of learning, training, technical, and capacity building approach. These targets are to be achieved by awareness, national and international cooperation, technology transfer and funding.
Chaudhary has confirmed an action plan as the next step and hoped it will be ready within next few months.
The policy also needs immediate implementation because the country faced extreme floods in 2010 in which 2,000 people died, 20 million were displaced and one-fifth of the country was under water.
The upper margin of the country is dotted with glaciers and mountains which serve as water towers for the country. Pakistan has already been observing snow liquefy floods – without any rain – and melting glaciers. Thus the threat of extreme monsoons could also occur in future.
“Increase in extreme weather events, melting of glacier and rising temperature in arid places are the top three challenges. There are reported events of low yield in arid zones related to increase in temperature. Investigations of farmers and marine workers from 2006 confirmed that there is something wrong with Pakistan’s climate,” said Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal, Head, Agriculture and Coordination Section at the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), Islamabad.
The GCISC, a research center for climate change, also contributed to the policy draft.
The US based Pakistani Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Cener for the Study of Longer- Range Future and author of IPCC report, Dr. Adil Najam has welcomed Pakistan’s first policy draft on climate change.
“I think what the draft says is correct, but may already have been said in a whole host of other policy documents. The challenge is to turn the general statements into specific targets and timetables,” said Najam.
“Good policy should also be rooted in the specific priorities and contexts of the nation. From this standpoint, it seems to be that any climate change policy for Pakistan has to confront the energy issues, especially in the context of constant load-shedding.
Additionally, it would seem to me that investments in the area of agriculture and water should be prioritised and specific goals and targets be determined,” said Najam.
