short essay on climate change in pakistan

• climate change

Pakistan Must Adapt to Climate Change. But Who Will Help Us?

T he record-breaking mega-flood in August 2022 that impacted 33 million people in Pakistan brought home to the world the urgency and scale of the climate crisis afflicting developing countries. At the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP 27), it triggered widespread worry among other countries about the state of preparedness many will have to gear up to—even if, like Pakistan, they remain negligible emitters of the greenhouse gases. In 2022, Pakistan’s pavilion at Sharm-al-Shaikh positioned not just the global connectedness of the crisis by pointing out that “what goes on in Pakistan will not stay in Pakistan,” it also became the hub of the climate finance deficits that are growing exponentially in inverse proportion to global emissions. This has led, in part, to the creation of the Loss and Damage (L&D) fund at the end of the conference.

Yet as G20’s energy ministers remained unable to agree on a roadmap to reduce emissions by July 2023 (even as COP28 approaches) the realization set in that many of us will remain in the frontline of the burn. Pakistan has been home for three successive years where on at least one day temperatures reached 53°C (127.4°F). The hope that we were working with needed a home-grown plan. As heatwaves coupled with slow global action transformed the earth into a red planet in the summer of 2023, Pakistan launched a National Adaptation Plan in July to chart a strategic whole-of government approach with a framework toolkit that allows it to protect its population.

For instance, the province of Sindh, which to this day stands transformed by the 2022 deluge, and recently saw evacuations in the coastal areas from cyclonic activity in a warming Arabian Sea, began its rehabilitation process by transferring new land titles to the women of afflicted households. In all such crises, the most vulnerable always remain the poorest, the women and children, impacted disproportionately by multiple crises of food insecurity, displacement, and disease.

That said, while Sindh is struggling to cope with a cascade of disasters, it will need not just the National Adaptation Plan, but the resources to transform municipal, rural, and agri-water governance for the dangerous decade ahead—all of which needs time, capacity, and liquidity. Similarly, the province of Balochistan has already declared a flood emergency, while the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is impacted too by a gathering storm.

Read More: ‘I Lost My Son in This Water a Few Days Ago.’ Photos of Pakistan’s Catastrophic Flooding

For countries drowning in extreme weather, exogenous shocks, and high public debt, where will this money come from? Especially in the amount that the World Bank in its 2022 Country Climate and Development Report calculated for Pakistan: a staggering $348 billion by 2030. This is just the number to stay resilient—to keep our heads above water and build sustainability into a climate-adaptive future. All this while a summer of fresh flooding and melting glaciers redefines our lives, our social and economic experiences, into a lifelong struggle to rebuild with resilience while we fight the climate devastations wreaking havoc again.

Who is coming to the rescue of such countries? While U.N. has been in the frontline of immediate relief, even its flash appeals globally remain under-funded. Structural reforms involve pain. We are willing to undergo more pain, especially for enabling resilience, but some amount of change has to come from the Bretton Woods system—the monetary management structure that controls the U.S., Canada, Australia, Western Europe, and Japan—meant to lead the world out of egregious inequality and now climate distress. The financing gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries has enlarged from $2.5 trillion in 2019 to $4.2 trillion in 2023. Add to it the cost of realizing climate goals, and the amount reaches a whopping $5.2 trillion annually .

Our National Adaption Plan (NAP) is designed to build climate-adaptation goals into every aspect of development planning. The international financial system must do the same. As we approach COP 28, the Global Goal on Adaptation remains under-capitalized, while the L&D fund is yet to start functioning. The U.N. Secretary General António Guterres made detailed recommendations in a press conference on July 27 that countries must operationalize and scale up the funding of renewables. Donor countries have been bilaterally supportive but they too need to fulfill their commitment to provide 0.7% of their Gross National Income as development assistance. Multilateral Development Banks should be recapitalized and be enabled to provide portfolio and budgetary support to developing countries, rather than project finance only. They should vastly expand grant and concessional lending to developing countries, enhance the vote and the voice of the developing countries in both International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and link the distribution of new IMF SDRs to development and climate goals.

The transition to a sustainable global economy will require an investment of around $1.5 trillion each year in the developing countries. Business as usual will certainly not work. A large part of this funding pool will have to come from the private sector, which will need new structural incentives to bring their leverage and capital to the business of bending development history. Vulnerable countries cannot attract investment in times of epochal climate distress, but they do need more than band-aid financing. We now need transformational milestones to building global consensus for a financing architecture that can face the 21st century’s rapidly changing conditions that challenge resilience while fueling crippling inequalities.

Critical assistance for the most climate vulnerable countries must not further burden the poor. Actions will be as important as pledges and plans at this point. A real message of change from global leaders would contribute substantially to the success of the forthcoming SDG Summit in September and COP28 in December, and restore trust in global cooperation and international solidarity. Our people are looking to us with renewed hope for action. We must not fail them.

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Pakistan’s Climate Change Monster

No longer in the box, by robert looney.

bob looney teaches economics at the Naval Postgraduate School in California.

Published Sept 11, 2024

Pakistan has been in the news all too frequently in recent years, thanks to earthquakes, floods, political upheavals, and economic woes.  Plus ça change : All told, the  IMF has had to come to the rescue  23 times since 1958, with none of the bailouts doing much more than allowing the government to avoid default on its hard-currency debts. And while the IMF’s ultimate objective is to nudge Pakistan onto a sustainable growth path, the impact of the bailouts has mostly been to lock Pakistan into a cycle of borrowing to pay interest on past borrowing.

Pakistan’s external debt  reached 73 percent of GDP in the past fiscal year, with the government just averting default in July 2023 thanks to IMF rescue number 23, a $3 billion loan. The economic prognosis remains grim, with the IMF forecasting  no growth in per capita GDP  in 2024.

Actually, rescue number 24 was needed in early 2024. At that time, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had dwindled to $3.5 billion, barely enough to cover one month of imports. And the situation is even worse than that figure suggests: Pakistan must  repay some $77 billion to lenders  between April 2023 and June 2026.

What’s more, the long term looks bleaker than the short. Pakistan is barely saving enough to cover the depreciation on the physical capital stock.  Consumption  (the flip side of savings) rose from an average of 85 percent of GDP in the 1990s to 93 percent for 2010 to 2023. The country’s  gross investment from all sources is only around 15 percent of GDP, roughly half what it should be to sustain long-term growth (and less than a third of China’s investment rate during its decades of rapid development). By no coincidence, Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio is less than 10 percent, insufficient to finance critical investment in civil infrastructure.

Turning the Page (I Hope)

So what’s really new in what the  Fund for Peace think tank diplomatically calls  a “fragile state”? (Pakistan is bunched on the fund’s list with Venezuela and Iraq.) Mostly, a sense of time running out. The country’s present plight is more sharply defined than in the past because climate change is now significantly contributing to the country’s economic and social distress. The  severe floods of 2022  alone displaced 8 million, and cost more than $30 billion in crop and infrastructure damage.  The World Bank estimates that  failure to adapt to climate change  in coming years could reduce Pakistan’s GDP by 18 to 20 percent by 2050.

But Pakistan’s past reliance on IMF bailouts severely limits the country’s ability to adapt to climate change, even if it could summon the will to deny scarce fiscal resources to competing priorities. The IMF bailouts have typically focused on  austerity measures  to reduce public spending and budgetary deficits, thus limiting the government’s capacity to invest in resilient infrastructure, weather early warning systems and the post-disaster social safety net.

One big dream here is to convince other potential sources of foreign capital, public and private, that Pakistan is finally getting serious about development in general and climate adaptation in particular.

Could Pakistan break out of the vicious cycle? Ironically, the IMF may be able to play a critical role. Pakistan’s 2024  Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program , which will provide $7 billion over 37 months, differs significantly from bailouts-as-usual. The EFF explicitly incorporates climate change into the program’s design, reflecting a recognition by the giant multilateral lender that  climate adaptation is a necessary if insufficient step  toward a sustainable future for Pakistan. (The country’s previous injection of IMF cash, a  Stand-by Arrangement  in 2023, was the first to mention climate change but did explicitly include it as a core component of the program.)

The IMF’s priority under the EFF is still balance of payments support, not direct funding for hardening the economy against the coming metaphoric and literal storms. But the EFF program is conditional on attention to climate adaptation, with progress monitored as part of the overall program evaluation.

One big dream here is to convince other potential sources of foreign capital, public and private, that Pakistan is finally getting serious about development in general and climate adaptation in particular. If the IMF is successful in this regard, the EFF may catalyze the delivery of resources from dedicated global climate funds, such as the Green Climate Fund.

Skeptics are right to compare the modest funds in the EFF with the enormous amounts of money needed to meet Pakistan’s climate change goals. According to a 2021  World Bank assessment on climate risk , Pakistan will need to invest $348 billion cumulatively by 2030 to meet its  Nationally Determined Contribution under the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change. Moreover, the cost of adaptation in agriculture, water, infrastructure and other vital sectors equates to a bit less than 6 percent of Pakistan’s GDP through 2030.

Actually, those numbers are conservative, in part because warming seem to be accelerating at a pace not anticipated, in part because delay in tackling the problems is raising the total cost of the weather disasters on the horizon. The good news (if you want to look at it that way) is that, while adaptation costs are daunting, the costs of the failure to adapt would be far higher. The World Bank predicts that  every dollar invested in climate-resilient infrastructure  in relatively poor countries such as Pakistan can yield $4 in benefits.

Ultimately, the success of the IMF initiative will be determined by Pakistan’s will to break the cycle of economic and political instability that has diverted focus and resources away from development. This is asking a lot of a government perpetually preoccupied by juggling the claims of powerful military, religious, geopolitical and economic interests to stay in power. Indeed, Imram Kahn, prime minister elected in 2018, has been in jail since 2022 after he dropped the ball.

Changing Pakistan’s priorities — and surviving to lead — will be a daunting task.

Turning Concern into Action: Understanding Climate Change Attitudes in Pakistan

Juan d. barón.

Pakistan is grappling with the profound impacts of climate change, such as shifting weather patterns and catastrophic floods (Baron et all, 2022) . Unfortunately, these impacts are projected to escalate, with forecasts suggesting that climate-related events, environmental degradation, and air pollution may cause Pakistan's GDP to shrink by 18-20% by 2050 . This alarming statistic underscores the need to address climate change and mitigate its effects on people and their livelihoods. Even though developing countries like Pakistan may not be the primary contributors to climate change, acknowledging and confronting its fallout is indispensable, especially for combatting pressing local issues like air pollution and smog.

The necessity to adapt and the implications of actions for local issues make it essential to understand people's prioritization of addressing climate change, their trusted sources of information, and the motivating factors behind their actions. To answer these questions, we conducted a phone survey of a random sample of 2,000 parents in Pakistan who have access to a cell phone and have school-aged children using random digit dialing. The key findings have been released in a recent policy note .

The results of the survey show that most people, regardless of gender or education level, are highly concerned about the impact of climate change on children, with over 80 percent expressing concern. The survey shows that although people are worried about climate change and its effects, it is not always their top priority. When asked to choose the top three issues facing Pakistan, less than a quarter of participants chose climate change. This suggests that while people are worried about climate change, it may not be their priority issue.

In the survey, when a random subset of people were presented with economic issues first, there was a 4-percentage point (statistically significant) rise in the likelihood of individuals considering climate change among top three issues of Pakistan, compared to when social issues were presented first. This prioritization of climate change when seen as an economic issue is more pronounced among individuals with higher educational attainment (see Figure 1).

How knowledgeable are people about climate information and whom do they trust?

The survey looked at people's knowledge of and trust in different sources of information about climate change. Those with higher levels of education are more informed about climate change.  For example, only 47 percent of illiterate people believe that the earth is getting warmer due to human activity, compared to 60 percent of those with higher education or above. Findings also show significant distrust overall in traditional sources of information, with the least educated being the most likely to distrust these sources. Among these sources, news media leads as the most important source of information while less than 1/5 trust scientists. This highlights the lack of trust in traditional climate change leadership, including the possibility of misinformation from the media. This poses a significant challenge to educating people about climate change.

How are people addressing climate change in Pakistan?

Families want their children to learn about climate change, but they are relying on the schools to fulfill this role. Almost all households in the survey said they support education about climate in schools.  However, less than half talk about it at home. This shows that schools could play a role in promoting conversations and educating families about climate change.

The survey reveals that, despite frequently adopting money-saving measures such as turning off lights (76%) to combat climate change, people exhibit less enthusiasm for endorsing more impactful actions like using public transport (36%) or cutting down on meat consumption. Reducing the disconnect between concern and action requires understanding people's beliefs e.g. education and awareness campaigns highlighting practical benefits, like savings or health improvements.

Three crucial insights emerge from the survey findings for policymakers. Firstly, economic aspects drive people's concern about climate change. Secondly, skepticism exists, especially among less educated individuals relying on traditional information sources. Lastly, even concerned individuals might not act due to inconvenience or lifestyle changes. Policymakers should focus on removing barriers and offering economic incentives to encourage active participation in climate action.

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Pakistan Urgently Needs Significant Investments in Climate Resilience to Secure its Economy and Reduce Poverty

ISLAMABAD, November 10, 2022 —This year’s heatwave and devastating floods are a reminder that climate change-induced disasters can significantly set back Pakistan’s development ambitions and its ability to reduce poverty. These disasters have caused more than 1,700 deaths and displaced more than 8 million people. The damage to infrastructure, assets, crops, and livestock has also been massive, with more than $30 billion in damages and economic losses. The World Bank Group’s Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) for Pakistan released today concludes that the country needs fundamental shifts in its development path and policies, requiring substantial investments in people-centric climate adaptation and resilience, that will require international support.

“The recent flooding and humanitarian crisis provide a wake-up call for urgent action to prevent further devastation to the people of Pakistan and its economy due to climate change,” said Martin Raiser, World Bank Vice President for South Asia. “Accelerated climate actions can protect the economy from shocks and secure more sustainable and inclusive growth in Pakistan.”

The CCDR notes that the combined risks of extreme climate-related events, environmental degradation, and air pollution are projected to reduce Pakistan’s GDP by at least 18 to 20% by 2050. This will stall progress on economic development and poverty reduction.

“If we want to tackle climate change, we need to prioritize investing in adaptation to help prepare Pakistan for future climate-related calamities, which are growing in frequency and intensity,” said Hela Cheikhrouhou, IFC Regional Vice President for Middle East, Central Asia, Türkiye, Afghanistan and Pakistan . “ With the right policy frameworks, Pakistan has the opportunity to attract private investment to build its resilience, particularly in sectors such as water management, agriculture, urban infrastructure, municipal services, and housing.”

To improve adaptation to climate change and avoid high costs, the report recommends five priority transitions:

1. Transforming the Agri-Food System: Productivity in the agri-food system – the largest employer, particularly for poor and vulnerable households – has been plummeting due to the degradation of land, overuse of chemical inputs and water, and lack of research. And yields are projected to drop another 50% by 2050. To bolster rural incomes and strengthen food and water security, Pakistan needs to repurpose environmentally damaging subsidies, promote climate-smart and regenerative agriculture and livestock systems, and prioritize ecosystem restoration.

2. Building Resilient and Livable Cities: Pakistan’s population living in urban areas, already highly exposed to pollution and climate change, will increase from 37% in 2020 to 60% in 2050. To ensure cities become more liveable, urgent reforms are needed for more integrated land use planning and increased investments in municipal services and in energy efficiency and clean transportation. To this end, strong municipal governments, and the expansion of city finances via property taxation are critical.

3. Accelerating a Just Transition to Sustainable Energy and Low-carbon Transport: The energy sector is a critical enabler of economic development and poverty reduction. However, it is a huge drain on public finances and foreign exchange reserves and a major contributor to GHG emissions. Pakistan must prioritize reducing the cost of generation including through energy efficiency, ensuring cost-reflective tariffs and improved targeting of subsidies, while addressing technical and collection losses in transmission and distribution. Scaled-up investment in mass transit can avoid locking in highly polluting modes of transport.

4. Strengthening Human Capital to Achieve Sustained and Equitable Development and Climate Resilience: To address its human capital crisis, Pakistan needs to improve the management of water, sanitation, and hygiene, which is the main driver of child stunting, and reduce high fertility rates. Pakistan should also ensure universal access to quality education and expand its social-protection system by improving benefits, particularly for those at the highest risk.

5. Aligning Financing Policies, Incentives, and Institutions to Support Scale-up of Climate Actions: Implementing these policies and executing a climate-resilient and low-carbon development agenda will require total investment needs that amount to around 10% of the cumulative GDP up to 2030. Accelerating the ongoing reforms to expand domestic revenue mobilization, including raising new municipal and property taxes, as well as improving efficiency and targeting of subsidies for agriculture and energy while protecting the most vulnerable will help to finance a large part of the needed investments. Yet, this will not be enough. A comprehensive financing strategy, involving greater private sector involvement and significant international support will be essential to complement Pakistan’s own commitment towards resilient and inclusive development.

“Foreign private capital can play an important role in addressing the climate change challenges in Pakistan,”  said   Ethiopis Tafara, MIGA Vice President and Chief Risk, Legal and Administrative Officer.  “Sustaining flows of foreign direct investment that support climate mitigation and adaptation will contribute toward financing Pakistan’s low-carbon transition.”

Pakistan is not a significant contributor to global warming, but it is on a high-growth trajectory of carbon emissions linked to fossil fuel use. This is also a source of the country’s chronic fiscal stress and worsening air pollution. Therefore, climate actions that bring co-benefits to both adaptation and mitigation and contribute to improving development outcomes should have the highest priority.

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World Bank Group Country Climate and Development Reports

The World Bank Group’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) are new core diagnostic reports that integrate climate change and development considerations. They will help countries prioritize the most impactful actions that can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and boost adaptation, while delivering on broader development goals. CCDRs build on data and rigorous research and identify main pathways to reduce GHG emissions and climate vulnerabilities, including the costs and challenges as well as benefits and opportunities from doing so. The reports suggest concrete, priority actions to support a low-carbon, resilient transition. As public documents, CCDRs aim to inform governments, citizens, the private sector, and development partners, and enable engagement with the development and climate agenda. CCDRs will feed into other core Bank Group diagnostics, country engagements and operations, and help attract funding and direct financing for high-impact climate action.

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Pakistan’s ‘climate carnage beyond imagination’, UN chief tells General Assembly

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The people of Pakistan are the victims of “a grim calculus of climate injustice”, Secretary-General António Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Friday, reminding that while the country was responsible for less than one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is paying a “supersized price for man-made climate change”.

During a full session of the UN’s most representative body on the country’s devastating floods, he recalled last month’s visit where he saw “a level of climate carnage beyond imagination”.

He described flood waters covering a landmass three times the total area of his own country, Portugal, saying that many lost their homes, livestock, crops and “their futures”.

“ Lives were washed away ”, he spelled out.

United Nations Photo October 7, 2022

Worse to come

While the rains have ceased and water is beginning to recede, many areas in the south remain inundated and, with winter approaching, the situation is going from bad to worse.

“Pakistan is on the verge of a public health disaster”, warned the top UN official, pointing to threats of cholera, malaria and dengue fever claiming “far more lives than the floods”.

He painted a picture of nearly 1,500 devastated health facilities, two million damaged or destroyed homes and more than two million families without their possessions.

“ Many have no shelter as winter approaches ”.

Cascading calamities

At the same time, the scale of crop and livestock destruction is “creating a food crisis today and putting the planting season in jeopardy tomorrow”, continued Mr. Guterres.

“Severe hunger is spiking. Malnutrition among children and pregnant lactating women is rising. The number of children out of school is growing. Heartache and hardship – especially for women and girls – is mounting,” he elaborated.

Moreover, more than 15 million people could be pushed into poverty.

The effects of the floods will be felt not just for days or months but will linger in Pakistan for years to come. 

Massive support needed

Working with the Pakistan Government to convene a pledging conference to provide rehabilitation and reconstruction support, the UN chief urged donor countries, international organizations, the private sector and civil society to fully support these efforts.

Meanwhile, the Organization launched the Pakistan Floods Response Plan calling for $816 million – a surge of $656 million from the initial appeal – to respond to the most urgent needs through next May.

“But this pales in comparison to what is needed on every front – including food, water, sanitation…and health support”, said the Secretary-General.

G20’s ‘Moral responsibility’

As the calendar moves quickly to next UN climate conference ( COP27 ) in November, he said “the world is moving backwards [as] greenhouse gas emissions are rising along with climate calamities”. 

The UN chief stressed that COP 27 must be the place where these trends are reversed, serious action on loss and damage taken, and vital funding found for adaptation and resilience. 

Reminding that the G20 leading industrialized nations drive 80 per cent of climate-destroying emissions, he called it their “moral responsibility” to help Pakistan recover, adapt and build resilience to disasters “supercharged by the climate crisis”.

‘We must act now’

Noting that a third of Pakistan had been deluged , Mr. Guterres said that many island States face “the very real prospect of their entire homeland going under”. 

“Communities everywhere are looking down the barrel of climate-driven destruction,” he said. “We must act – and we must act now”. 

While this time it was Pakistan, the Secretary-General warned that tomorrow, “it could be any of our countries and our communities”.

“ Climate chaos is knocking on everyone’s door , right now,” he concluded. “This global crisis demands global solidarity and a global response”.

‘Litmus test of solidarity’

General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi, underscored the importance of time, as “the price we are paying for delays rises each day”.

He said that today, the world faced a “litmus test of solidarity” in how Member States react to Pakistan’s plight.

“This is a tragedy of epic proportions” that requires “immediate interventions,” to prevent a “permanent emergency”.

Rebuilding together

The Assembly President highlighted the need to be better prepared as droughts and rains return.

More than ever, international relief efforts must focus on transformative solutions, he said. “ Adaptation and resilience are the seeds of sustainability ”.

Mr. Kőrösi urged the ambassadors to “make use of science and solidarity…to enhance our crisis management capacities…[to] rebuild together”.

Appealing for help

Meanwhile the UN refugee agency, UNHCR , is urgently seeking to help more than 650,000 refugees and members of their host communities affected by Pakistan’s calamitous flooding.

Noting that the scale of devastation is “hard to comprehend,” spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh told a press briefing in Geneva on Friday that as Pakistan faces “a colossal challenge” to respond to the climate disaster, more support is need “for the country and its people, who have generously hosted Afghan refugees for over four decades”.

He reported on the latest estimates of the unprecedented rainfall and flooding, recorded at least 1,700 deaths; 12,800 injured, including at least 4,000 children; some 7.9 million displacements; and nearly 600,000 living in relief sites.

On ‘the frontlines’

“Pakistan is on the frontlines of the climate emergency,” said Mr. Saltmarsh.

UNHCR seeks additional funds to address immediate needs and assist in early recovery processes.

“It could take months for flood waters to recede in the hardest-hit areas, as fears rise over threats of waterborne diseases and the safety of millions of affected people, 70 per cent of whom are women and children,” he said, reminding that “ environmental sustainability will remain central to the response ”.

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Resilience, Environment and Climate Change

The cumulative effects of climate change directly impact the economy, costing the country an estimated USD 38 billion annually (WB and ADB 2021). If this trend continues, it will reverse human development gains made over the last decade. Already, in 2020 Pakistan ranked 154 out of 189 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index, down two places from 152 the previous year.

Addressing the threats posed by climate change is a priority for the UNDP. At the same time, Pakistan recognizes that climate change affects everyone differently and that narrowing the gender gap is essential to building climate preparedness and resilience for all. If Pakistan is to tackle the climate challenges that lie ahead, it cannot do so without all stakeholders' full and equal participation.

people in GB

accessed health services – 17,825 youth, 250 people in extreme poverty, 1385 women, 27 people with disabilities

of land in Sindh freed of encroachment and brought under the control of the forest department

spoke up about their needs through the Youth Conversations platform

Climate Resilience

Weather-related disasters have become frequent, intense, and unpredictable leading to the destruction of lives, vital infrastructures, homes, and businesses, making climate change threatening and catastrophic. Severe droughts are stifling rural livelihoods. Rising sea levels put low-lying areas at risk of floods. Ecosystems are being fragmented or eliminated, and many species are in decline or being pushed into extinction. These frequent and unpredictable changes in weather conditions severely affect food security, livelihoods, health, clean water, energy, medicines, and other ecosystem services for people, especially the marginalized and vulnerable communities, given their limited ability to cope. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would have to be reduced by 45 percent by 2030 to prevent global warming above 1.5C. As per the worldwide climate index, Pakistan ranks 8th most vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change. The variability in climate and weather patterns has increased the frequency of disasters which undermines development in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan's economy remains highly vulnerable to future threats posed by climate change. 

Addressing the threats posed by climate change is a priority for UNDP. At the same time, UNDP recognizes that climate change affects everyone differently and that narrowing the inequalities is essential to building climate preparedness and resilience for all. If the country is to tackle the climate challenges that lie ahead, it cannot do so without all stakeholders' full and equal participation. 

UNDP is also working closely with the government to explore the potential of Blue Economy in Pakistan.

Institutional and Policy Support

To steer Pakistan toward inclusive and resilient climate development, UNDP is implementing projects to assist the Government of Pakistan in environmental sustainability at the national, provincial, and local levels by moving forward with its multiple thematic areas. 

UNDP focuses on to help governments accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by providing tools that will help identify critical constraints to progress and focus on development objectives that are more relevant to Pakistan's context. Furthermore, UNDP provides support to the Government of Pakistan and offers an integrated package of policy support services that are aligned with its programming priorities. Policy support covers a wide range of areas, including climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, access to sustainable energy, sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems, oceans governance, and promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies, poverty reduction, inclusive growth and productive employment, gender equality and the empowerment of women, and health access to water and sanitation. 

UNDP is strengthening and enabling the Government of Pakistan to strategize NDC planning, relevant policies, and its implementation. Furthermore, UNDP has also aided the government in developing, revising, and implementing its National Climate Change policy. 

Circular Economy/ Solid Waste Management 

The UNDP promotes a circular economy-based approaches to the existing waste value chain. Instead of waste being collected for disposal only, the UNDP facilitates diverting major chunk of the accumulated trash from disposal sites towards various recycling practices. The UNDP creates multiple links currently missing in the value chain: recycling points, where the waste will be sorted for subsequent recycling, and composting facilities. The UNDP will also research and operationalize new recycling technologies to strengthen existing recycling industries. Successful pilot models with the private sector have been initiated.

Protected Area Management and Eco-Tourism

UNDP seeks to contribute to long-term global environmental impacts, including the recovery of wildlife populations, habitat conservation, and agro-biodiversity by managing protected areas. To counter the threats to biodiversity and overcome the barriers to effective management of protected areas, UNDP support the government in various initiatives that enhances its capacity for biodiversity conservation and effective protected area management; it also includes the implementation of various measures to reduce the illegal wildlife trade and poaching. 

In the past, UNDP has worked extensively on protected area management to develop a system in the face of emerging challenges, including climate change threats, rising demands for tourism, increasing demand for natural resource goods and services, and the recognition of customary practices in protected areas. One of the critical interventions was the delineation, mapping, and management planning for the biodiversity corridor between the two national parks, the CKNP (Central Karakoram National Park) and DNP (Deosai National Park); the first of its kind in Pakistan. 

Furthermore, UNDP collaborates with the local community and support local organizations to provide alternate livelihood options in the form of improved climate resilient farming, water management practices, better livestock and pastures, and the capacity building of stakeholder institutions.

Climate Promise - II

Glaciers and Students

Balochistan SDGs (BSDG) Accelerated Delivery

Accelerated response to HIV through effective prevention, treatment, care and support interventions for Key Populations and surveillance in high-risk areas

Eco-Tourism & Camping Villages Project

Policy Support Programme

Merged Areas Governance Project

Reforms And Innovation In Government For High Performance

Stabilization and Inclusive Development Programme (SIDP)

Strengthening Electoral and Legislative Processes

Supporting Rule of Law for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies in Pakistan (Amn-o-Insaf)

Policy support for mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals in Pakistan

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Climate change and Pakistan’s economy

Natural calamities have put people’s incomes, health, housing, infrastructure and food security at risk

n his recent visit to Pakistan, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “I have never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods here in Pakistan. As our planet continues to warm, all countries will increasingly suffer losses and damage from climate beyond their capacity to adapt. This is a global crisis. It demands a global response.”

Floods in 2010 and unusual spell of torrential rains in recent months, extraordinary melting of glaciers, severe heat waves, sea storms and cyclones, extinction of some species are clear signs of things to come.

Climate change activists are continuously talking about the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) reaching yet another threshold. GHGs are the main cause of the climate shift on the planet. This shift appears in the form of disastrous natural calamities. Pakistan emits 0.3 percent of the global GHGs by volume but has to bear the brunt of the consequences.

The US, China and India emit a major share of the GHGs.

The World Bank has anticipated the poverty rate in Pakistan at 39.3 percent, using the lower middle-income poverty rate of $3.2 per day. The rate for the upper-middle class stands at $5.5 per day for the fiscal year 2020-21. This shows that Pakistan is facing a dire economic crisis. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan has been placed fifth in the world. Pakistan lost 91,089 lives and suffered an economic loss of $81 billion and observed 152 extreme weather events from 1999 to 2019.

Pakistan is suffering from climate change despite its meager contribution to carbon emissions. The country witnesses severe climate-related natural hazards due to its geographic location and varied tropical continental climate. The recent floods have devastated the inhabitants of the affected areas. Nearly 2 million houses had been impacted by the floods by September 19.

12,700 kilometres of roads were damaged and 7.6 million people have been affected directly. The overall loss has been estimated at around $30 billion. More than 80 districts of Balochistan, Sindh and the Punjab came under water. Along with other sectors, the education system has been affected severely. 17,566 schools were damaged or destroyed by the unusual rains: 15,842 in Sindh, 544 in Balochistan and 1,180 in the Punjab.

Major crops and livelihoods in many areas have been destroyed. This has resulted in a serious threat to food security in the country. Despite being an agricultural country, Pakistan has to import grain. This will further deplete foreign reserves.

A more serious economic crisis can be averted by adopting some judicious and effective policies. First, reforms should be introduced to increase exports from the country so that the economy becomes stable. Political and economic challenges like removing barriers in the way of foreign direct investment should get special attention.

Special measures should be taken to win the trust of foreign investors in the country so that local production and employment increases. Special plans to harness renewable energy resources should be executed as soon as possible. Solar and wind energy are good options to meet the energy demands.

Climate resilient infrastructure should be a priority. Developing the human capital of the country is the need of the hour. Pakistan has one of the highest young populations in the world. It is high time to engage the youth in building climate resilient infrastructure in Pakistan.

Pakistan needs to attract more FDI in sustainable and resilient development programmes. Some special initiatives to empower the small farmers, women and labourers should be taken by the government to overcome poverty caused by climate change. These may include loans and small and medium business schemes.

The relevant authorities should control illegal construction of buildings in the path of the rivers and streams. It is time to raise awareness among citizens about dealing with the natural hazards to minimise the losses. The government should allocate budgets for dealing with unprecedented calamities so that the loss to life and property is minimised.

Precautionary measures can mitigate the effect of floods, earthquakes and storms. Building dams and water reservoirs are long-term measures to avoid natural calamities. Public participation should be a regular component of the regional development strategy.

Climate change has put people’s incomes, health, housing, infrastructure and food security at risk. The government should adhere to international best practices to alleviate the effects of natural hazards. Cooperation with international bodies should be enhanced and solid steps taken to minimise the effects of climate change.

Pakistan should demand that the UN and its affiliated bodies pay special attention to the development of basic infrastructure. Awareness campaigns should be launched to educate the people about the threats from climate change so that the common man can play his role in mitigation efforts.

The writer is a project assistant at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad. She can be reached at [email protected]

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Pakistan’s Most Terrifying Adversary Is Climate Change

The country debates women’s honor inexhaustibly but pays little attention to the ferocious and imminent dangers of climate disasters.

By Fatima Bhutto

Ms. Bhutto is the author of the novel “The Runaways.”

Karachi is home. My bustling, chaotic city of about 20 million people on the Arabian Sea is an ethnically and religiously diverse metropolis and the commercial capital of Pakistan, generating more than half of the country’s revenue.

Over the decades, Karachi has survived violent sectarian strife , political violence between warring groups claiming the city and terrorism. Karachi has survived its gangsters sparring with rocket launchers; its police force , more feared than common criminals; its rulers and bureaucrats committed to rapacious, bottomless corruption . Now Karachi faces its most terrifying adversary: climate change.

In August, Karachi’s stifling summer heat was heavy and pregnant. The sapodilla trees and frangipani leaves were lush and green; the Arabian Sea, quiet and distant, had grown muddy. When the palm fronds started to sway, slowly, the city knew the winds had picked up and rain would follow. Every year the monsoons come — angrier and wilder — lashing the unprepared city. Studies show that climate change is causing monsoons to be more intense and less predictable, and cover larger areas of land for longer periods of time.

On Aug. 27, Karachi received nearly nine inches of monsoon rain , the highest amount of rainfall ever in a single day. Nineteen inches of rain fell in August, according to the meteorological officials. It is enough to drown a city that has no functioning drainage, no emergency systems and no reliable health care (except for those who can pay). Thousands of homes and settlements of the poor were subsumed and destroyed , and more than 100 people were killed.

A traders association estimated that the submerging of markets and warehouses damaged goods worth 25 billion Pakistani rupees, or about $150 million. Local papers estimated that with Karachi at a standstill for a week, in some congested areas for longer, Pakistan’s gross domestic product suffered daily losses of $449 million — a number that didn’t include the enormous informal economy. The World Bank estimates that 15 percent of gross domestic product of the Sindh province (Karachi is its capital) is lost every year to environmental damage and climate change.

Pakistan is the fifth most climate vulnerable nation in the world. Between 1998 and 2018, according to the Global Climate Risk Index, the country is estimated to have lost nearly 10,000 lives to climate-related disasters and suffered losses amounting to about $4 billion from 152 extreme weather events in that period. Analysts have estimated Pakistan’s climate migrants over the past decade at around 30 million people.

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Pakistan’s Climate Challenges Pose a National Security Emergency

A whole-of-government approach is needed now before climate change exacerbates conflict in the country.

By: Jumaina Siddiqui

Publication Type: Analysis

Pakistan is in the midst of a terrible heatwave , with the temperatures in parts of the country exceeding 120 F. April was the hottest month in the past 61 years, until May came along and saw warmer temperatures. At least 65 people have reportedly died due to the heatwave, but the actual numbers are certainly higher, and it’s caused massive flooding and infrastructure damage in Gilgit-Baltistan, water shortages in Karachi and broader Sindh province, and placed greater demands on the country’s weak electrical grid. Despite monsoon rains beginning in late June — causing at least 77 deaths — many parts of the country still swelter. Pakistan should treat these climate disasters as a full-fledged national security emergency before they stoke conflict that adds further stress amid the country’s other numerous challenges.

Climate Challenges Could Stoke Conflict

For the past 20 years, Pakistan has consistently ranked among the top 10 most vulnerable countries on the Climate Risk Index, with 10,000 fatalities due to climate-related disasters and financial losses amounting to about $4 billion from 173 extreme weather events. These challenges threaten to spark climate-related conflict over resources — such as water — that have become scarce due to climate change impacts. Climate-related disasters like floods, heatwaves or tsunamis can also exacerbate tensions among groups who already have a history of conflict. Any of these scenarios would be a serious threat to Pakistan and have serious ramifications for any government in the immediate aftermath of a climate disaster or as part of efforts to mitigate future disasters.

This year’s heatwave further exacerbated food insecurity, which can undermine peace and stability, according to the United Nations. Scorching temperatures have damaged entire orchards and hurt wheat production across Pakistan, adversely impacting the livelihoods of many small farmers and rendering formerly arable land unusable for agriculture in some parts of the country. Already facing wheat shortages due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Pakistan’s domestic wheat production this year will be reduced by 10% .

During Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to the United States to attend a United Nations meeting on food security, he highlighted that the country is under threat of food, water and energy insecurity. Unfortunately, it is not just a threat anymore but a reality for Pakistan. Combined with soaring inflation and the country’s continued political instability, this is a recipe for disaster. All these trends are potential catalysts that could trigger climate-induced migration from rural areas to urban centers as Pakistanis seek employment and stable living conditions. This puts an additional strain on massive cities and urban infrastructure that already cannot manage their current population levels.

A Mixed Response

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has also taken notice of Pakistan’s climate change vulnerabilities. In a recent decision, the court noted that that in urban areas in particular, relevant government authorities should take into consideration “adaptation, climate resiliency and sustainability…[as] they are essential to actualize the fundamental rights of the people.”

While some subnational government agencies have been more effective in preparing for climate-related disasters, other have not. In Gilgit Baltistan, the heatwave caused a massive glacial flood, but thanks to continuous monitoring by the relevant local government authorities, people living in vulnerable locations were relocated to safer places before the floods. After the 2020 floods in Karachi, the provincial government decided to address the causes that lead to the severe flooding after the waters subsided. However, their heavy-handed actions — such as tearing down settlements along the nalas, or waterways, that should have drained the flood waters without considering proper plans to resettle or adequately compensate those displaced from the settlements — led to a number of protests from both communities and civil society activists.

It took this heatwave for the Sindh government to notice and take action against the water mafias controlling the city, even though this has been a problem for a decade or more. The water issue connects to the larger issue of natural resource usage and extraction throughout Pakistan, in particular the availability of water, whether it is for agricultural purposes or for consumption. The current heatwave has created an acute water crisis in Sindh, leading to inter-provincial tensions with Punjab — and it’s unclear if there is a resolution in sight .

Pakistan has tried to play a significant role on the international stage, participating in COP26 and signing the global methane pledge. The country is one of the world’s major methane emitters , predominately through its agricultural sector. How this commitment will impact this sector more broadly remains to be seen, especially as Pakistan seeks international financing to meet this commitment. While climate-smart agricultural practices generally save money in the long run, it is important to understand how these changes would impact large-scale farmers and their workers, the latter of whom are one of the most economically disadvantaged groups in country. 

The previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had a strong advocate in Malik Amin Aslam, who served as the special advisor to the prime minster on climate change. The PTI government made significant strides in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change such as committing to having 60% of energy coming from “clean” sources and to having electric vehicles making up 30% of the market by 2030.

The current coalition government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has smartly continued the trend of strong leadership on climate change by appointing Senator Sherry Rehman , a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, as minster for climate change. While leadership on this issue is imperative, it is equally important that there is a tangible and sustained collaboration and coordination between the national and provincial governments to develop a roadmap to address the impacts of climate change on the country. Because of devolution in Pakistan, issues like water, food and agriculture, and environment are ones where the provinces have the authority to pass governing legislation, while climate change is a federal issue. This disconnect must be resolved through a more robust system for interprovincial coordination. 

What Pakistan Needs

The PML-N government’s announcement to set up a climate change task force in response to the heatwave is a step in the right direction. But if Pakistan is serious about tackling climate change and investing in mitigation and adaption efforts, what is needed is an overarching framework to coordinate this response. One recent model to look to is Pakistan’s National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which led the country’s COVID-19 response. A climate-focused NCOC would ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to address the impacts of climate change on the country and appropriate coordination takes place that builds political consensus. This would require relevant provincial and national bodies to come together to work develop a common action plan to address the internal impacts of climate change. Furthermore, the NCOC would spearhead the implementation  of Pakistan’s National Determined Contributions under the Paris Accords because some of these efforts would need provincial buy-in.   

It is unclear if Pakistan’s new climate change task force will carry the same weight as the COVID-19 NCOC. But if it is to succeed, then learning from the successes and failures of the NCOC model is imperative. The COVID-19 NCOC took a whole-of-government approach to tackle the crisis head on. In the beginning there was significant tension between the federal and provincial governments on measures such as the timing and scope of lockdowns and whether provinces had the legal mandate to dictate how businesses functioned during the pandemic. However, in the interest of combatting the pandemic, a delicate understanding between and cooperation among political parties in power in different provinces did eventually occur. 

National and provincial governments are working in lockstep right when it comes to energy conservation. But this cooperation will need to be sustained over the long haul. Unlike COVID-19 where we have vaccines and other mitigation tools, climate change is a significantly more complex challenge that will require long-term coordination and commitment. Almost PKR 10 billion (approximately $50 million) has been allocated to the Ministry of Climate Change under the 2022-23 national budget, a decrease from the PKR 14 billion in the 2021-22 national budget. This change is likely due to the economic situation in the country, but still shows a commitment to the issue and continuity between governments as the PTI government’s signature “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” project received an earmark. 

Alongside these domestic efforts, both the United States and Pakistan should hold a second meeting of the U.S.-Pakistan Climate and Environment Working Group, following the first meeting held in September 2021. This working group could serve as the springboard to begin repairing and resetting the tenuous U.S.-Pakistan relationship as addressing climate change and promoting regional stability is in the interest of both nations.   

All mainstream political parties agree that climate change is threat to Pakistan’s social and economic stability. Addressing climate change in Pakistan truly requires a “ war-footing ” and a whole-of-government approach. Otherwise, the consequences of inaction or improper action could foster greater turmoil and strife for all levels of Pakistani society. 

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Pakistan: Accelerating green industrialization amid climate and economic shocks

The south asian nation requires urgent investment and international support to strengthen key economic sectors and enhance their climate resilience..

© Shutterstock/SS 360 | Workers in an automobile assembly line in Karachi, Pakistan.

Facing severe climate and economic challenges, Pakistan urgently needs investment and policy support to pursue green industrialization and bolster its economy while enhancing climate resilience.

With a per capita income of $1,596, the South Asian nation hovers between the World Bank's low and lower-middle income categories. Notably vulnerable to climate change despite contributing just 0.93% of global greenhouse emissions, Pakistan ranks 150 out of 185 on the ND-GAIN Index for climate vulnerability .

In 2022, the impact of climate change was starkly evident when devastating floods submerged a third of the country’s territory, causing damages exceeding $30 billion, about 8% of its GDP.

The environmental catastrophe compounded Pakistan’s economic strains from COVID-19 and its rapidly growing external debt, which has doubled from $65 billion in 2015 to almost $130 billion (40% of GDP) in the Spring of 2023, leading to a recent bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Providing the ‘right support’

Amid these challenges, sectors key to Pakistan's green industrialization are grappling with significant obstacles in financing, policy formulation and technology access.

“It’s critical to strengthen the country’s domestic public and private funding sources and provide the right support,” UNCTAD senior economist Gul Unal says.

She underscores the need for stronger international support, including the New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance and the Loss and Damage Fund agreed at COP28, along with assistance from multilateral partners like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

A forthcoming UNCTAD study, expected in spring 2024, will offer key recommendations for Pakistan's green industrialization. Its initial findings were discussed at a recent high-level conference in Islamabad co-organized by UNCTAD and the Social Protection Resource Centre, bringing together government officials, industry leaders, financiers and researchers.

Revitalizing agriculture

Agriculture contributes nearly a quarter of Pakistan's GDP, employs about 37% of its population and supplies cotton and other raw materials that are vital for the country’s textile industry. But the sector struggles with inefficiency largely due to small-scale operations and a lack of modernization, leading to issues like food insecurity, rural unemployment and poverty.

Simplifying loan processes, reducing collateral requirements and streamlining financial services can significantly improve farmers' access to credit. This, in turn, would bolster their capacity to upscale operations and adapt better to climatic change.

Transforming the textile industry

Pakistan's textile industry employs more than 40% of the industrial workforce and accounts for 60% of the nation's exports. But it also has a big environmental footprint. The sector is responsible for over 20% of industrial water pollution, and “fast fashion” production processes are exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions and landfill waste.

The industry needs a fundamental shift towards renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydropower. Additionally, developing innovative recycling methods and enhancing sustainability awareness and education at all levels are crucial steps for a more environmentally responsible textile industry.

Revamping the transport sector

The Transportation sector, which contributes 10% to Pakistan's GDP, faces significant challenges, notably a heavy reliance on private vehicles and a slow transition to low-carbon fuels. A primary issue is the inaccessibility of public transit systems, stemming from inadequate urban planning, which leads many people in the country reliant on private vehicles.

The country needs improved urban planning based on efficient mass transit systems. Encouraging the use of public transport, cycling and walking, along with the development of better electric vehicle infrastructure and designs, are also vital steps. Funding these initiatives could involve implementing carbon taxes, parking levies and the creation of a domestic carbon market.

Driving green transformation

The high-level conference in Islamabad and the forthcoming study are part of UNCTAD's " Resilient, green and transformative development " project, focused on countries along the Asian Belt and Road and running from 2022 to 2024.

This initiative aims to extract lessons from China's green industrialization experience, formulate integrated policy strategies for participating countries and facilitate knowledge sharing among policymakers.

Climate change: a real threat to Pakistan

There are some efforts in addressing climate change at the global and national levels

The International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) published a 3675-page report earlier this week which should not be ignored due to the hypes surrounding the Ukraine war and a no-trust vote against PM Imran Khan. The report titled ‘Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’ found that the scientific evidence has become stronger that all life on earth, including human civilisation, is vulnerable to a changing climate. But how?

Food production: There is new knowledge that climate change is affecting food webs. Changes in temperature, rainfall, and extreme weather have increased the frequency and affected agriculture production and patterns. The report referred to the flood damages to crops in Pakistan in 2010 which cost $4.5 billion. It is also estimated that 8-10% of today’s farmland will become climatically unsuitable by 2100. This is very relevant to Pakistan which imports food products regularly from overseas to feed 220 million people in the country.

Water: Climate change will impact water quality and availability causing vulnerabilities to both rural and urban areas. The rural areas will suffer from a drought affecting food production and the livelihood of rural communities. On the other hand, the urban population suffer from water scarcity and heatwaves. The report found that the average mortality from floods, storms and droughts is 9 times higher in Pakistan and other highly vulnerable countries as compared to European countries. This is particularly alarming as various part of the country is suffering from water availability.

Coastal cities: People living in cities face higher risks of heat stress, reduced air quality, lack of water, and food shortages caused by climate change. However, this risk is severe in coastal cities such as Karachi due to the risk from coastal-specific climate hazards. The recent urban flooding in Karachi shows that flood-related vulnerabilities will be spread over rich and poor areas of the city.

There are some efforts in addressing climate change at the global and national levels. However, these efforts are too late and too little. It is clear now that minor, marginal, reactive or incremental changes won’t be sufficient. We need urgent and more ambitious action and, at the same time, rapid and deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The report found institutional and financial barriers that restrict cities from investing in new parks and green infrastructure to cool down during heatwaves.

What is the solution then? The IPCC report highlights a solutions framework called Climate Resilient Development or CRD.

CRD means cutting back greenhouse gas emissions and conserving biodiversity in energy, industry, health, water, food, urban development, housing and transport policies and practices, in fact everyday decision-making. Its means CRD cannot be achieved with a single action such as planting trees. In fact, it involves fundamental changes to how government and society function, including changes to underlying values, worldviews, ideologies, social structures, political and economic systems in the country. The report admits that the world has no single magic solution and each country has to devise its own path for CRD.

Looking at the climate change risk and vulnerability for Pakistan and the capacities of government, the whole nation should prioritise climate change understanding in their daily life. Therefore, adaptation to climate change for the government means transforming the policies we plan our cities, regions and infrastructure. Adaptation to climate change for society means reducing water usage, using healthy diets, asking for sustainable farming, using cycling and public transport and finding green and clean solutions for our houses.

We have to remember the scientific evidence is clear — climate change is a threat to human well-being and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted action at national, provincial and local levels will miss a rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3 rd , 2022.

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Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Pakistan.

• Climate Change Overview
• Country Summary
• Climatology
• Trends & Variability
• Mean Projections (CMIP6)
• Extreme Events
• Historical Natural Hazards
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Historical Hazards

Pakistan faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world, ranked 18 out of 191 countries by the 2019 Inform Risk Index . This risk is driven particularly by the nation’s exposure to earthquakes and the risks of internal conflict. However, Pakistan also has high exposure to flooding, including, riverine, flash, and coastal, as well as some exposure to tropical cyclones and their associated hazards, and drought. Disaster risk in Pakistan is also driven by its social vulnerability. Pakistan’s vulnerability ranking (37 out of 191) is driven by its high rates of multidimensional poverty. Pakistan scores slightly better in terms of its coping capacity. 

This section provides a summary of key natural hazards and their associated socioeconomic impacts in a given country. It allows for a quick evaluation of most vulnerable areas through the spatial comparison of natural hazard data with development data, thereby identifying exposed livelihoods and natural systems.

The charts provide overview of the most frequent natural disaster in a given country and understand the impacts of those disasters on human populations.

Climate change is now recognized to have a significant impact on disaster management efforts and pose a significant threat to the efforts to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable populations. The demands of disaster risk management are such that concise, clear, and reliable information is crucial. The information presented here offers insight into the frequency, impact and occurrence of natural hazards. Source (PDF)

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