Tipping point

High weather conditions, extreme rains, and unsettled weather are likely to be the highlight of 2024. In a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report published last week, the weather agency says that Asia was the region most affected by climate change, weather and water-related hazards in 2023. The report also finds Asia to be warming faster than the global average with many countries experiencing their hottest year in 2023. For Pakistan, apocalyptic weather conditions remained a significant highlight. While it, thankfully, did not see a repeat of 2022 when flash floods left two-thirds of the country under water, rising temperatures and more-than-average rainfall continued to create challenges for the country. This year, too, torrential rains indicate that the country should brace itself for extreme weather patterns. Last week, heavy rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) killed three people and injured nine. Rains also wreak havoc in areas of Punjab, including Abbottabad.

Years ago, climate change was treated as nothing more than a buzzword, with former US president Donald Trump calling climate change a hoax. It was perhaps this lack of urgency exercised by the developed nations that countries in the Global South are now bearing the brunt of extreme weather conditions that are resulting in both human and economic losses. That irregular rains in the country are a result of climate change was first recognized by government officials when Karachi witnessed urban flooding in 2020. But this acknowledgment has done little to persuade the government to take measures to build climate-resilient infrastructure rather than to use it as an excuse to cover up its failure in tackling the climate challenge that disproportionately affects lower- and middle-income areas. Post-rain cleaning work also sees the clearing of major thoroughfares while residential areas remain flooded for weeks, creating challenges for people who travel on foot to reach bus stops.

Pakistan has to take significant steps if it is serious about saving itself from climate-induced untoward situations. The first steps towards climate mitigation should be to break away from its reliance on foreign aid and shift towards local solutions. Instead of building high-story concrete jungles that require heavy use of air conditioners, the government should focus on relatively large houses with green fields for vegetation and plantations that could absorb harmful sunlight, helping against heatwaves. Both the federal and provincial governments must observe smart and green cities set up by several developed countries to understand how they can make climate-friendly cities across the country. The reliance on fast-moving goods has to be stopped as well. This is a big challenge because the entire world operates on low-cost, short-lived products. But this way of living, where every other item is becoming useless after a short time, is leading to piles of non-biodegradable waste that takes hundreds of years to decompose. While it is commendable that the government has imposed a ban on single-use plastic, in the absence of an affordable alternative, such bans remain restricted to paper. Unless the country drafts a climate action plan, Pakistan is doomed to suffer from the adverse and irreversible effects of climate change.