Climate change threatens sustainable growth: Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Acting President and Senate Chairman Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani highlighted climate change as a pressing obstacle to Pakistan’s sustainable development on Monday, urging a shift toward a climate-resilient food system to mitigate growing food insecurity.

Addressing the nation’s vulnerabilities, Gilani underscored the urgency of preparing Pakistan’s agriculture sector to withstand climate impacts, which he described as one of the nation’s most significant challenges.

Gilani also pointed to recent economic measures, which he credited with helping Pakistan sidestep the threat of default. These tough decisions, he explained, were made to stabilize the economy amid a “polycrisis” of intersecting challenges. The government’s Vision 2025 strategy, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), outlines long-term development objectives that support economic and resilience.

To guide future growth, Pakistan’s “5Es Framework” highlights priority areas including exports, e-governance, climate resilience, energy security, and equity. This framework, Gilani noted, offers a pathway toward sustainable progress and a foundation for tackling Pakistan’s overlapping economic and environmental issues.

At the 27th Sustainable Development Conference, Gilani spotlighted Pakistan’s advances in climate governance and sustainability. Organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) with the Ministry of Climate Change, the event themed “From Fragility to Resilience” focuses on resilience, mitigation, poverty alleviation, and energy efficiency goals.

Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam underscored the severe impacts of climate change on South Asia, noting that more than 750 million people in the region have faced natural disasters in recent decades.

Highlighting Pakistan’s 2022 floods, which caused $30 billion in losses, Alam called for joint climate efforts with India to combat smog in Lahore and address shared environmental challenges.

Alam emphasized the growing need for global financing to address climate-related damages, warning that developing nations could face losses up to $1.8 trillion annually by 2050. She also highlighted Pakistan’s initiatives against plastic pollution under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s leadership and called for unified resilience-building efforts ahead of COP29 in Baku.

SDPI Executive Director Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri emphasized that Pakistan, like much of the world, stands at a crossroads, facing crucial choices amid climate and geopolitical challenges. He highlighted the resilience shown by Pakistanis after the 2022 floods and pointed to the country’s transition to solar energy and increased social activism.

SDPI Chairperson Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel opened the conference with remarks on the urgency of reducing greenhouse gases and addressing Pakistan’s own poverty and pollution issues, noting that 40 per cent of Pakistan’s population lives below the poverty line. Pakistan has experienced economic improvement through increased agricultural and industrial production, he added.