Govt urged to tackle climate change

PESHAWAR: An agriculture expert and former secretary of Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) Khan Faraz on Sunday asked the government to take steps to tackle drought and climate change on priority basis.

“The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued an advisory highlighting rainfall deficits and the potential for escalating drought severity. According to the PMD, between September 1, 2024 and January 15, 2025, Pakistan recorded a below-normal rainfall deficit of 40 percent,” Khan Faraz said.

He added that the PMD had painted a dismal picture for the coming months, forecasting low rainfall, therefore the government must use technology to help facilitate farmers and agriculturalists to figure out a way to deal with climate challenges.

He said that being an agricultural country, low rainfall here meant huge loss of crops. “This causes imbalance as the country is forced to import essential crops. The country will lose its share in the international exports market,” he said.

“Dry vegetation is also at risk of catching fire. Also, dry weather conditions are not new, in 2022, right before the flash floods, several mountainous regions in the country caught fire that took days to die down. Since 2022, Pakistan has put all its energy on convincing disinterested rich nations to contribute, in the form of grants, to rebuilding developing countries affected by climate change. It is, therefore, necessary for the government to see the climate challenge as its top priority,” Khan Faraz explained.

Keeping in view these challenges, he said the government must use technology to help facilitate farmers and agriculturalists to figure out a way to deal with climate challenges. “Timely weather predictions could allow farmers to take timely decisions regarding their crops and minimise losses. Water reservoirs should be set up to prevent the waste of rainwater and to store water,” the agriculture expert said.

He said that since climate change was not a one-time event, conditions like heavy rainfall may be a more prominent feature of changing climatic conditions, but there are hidden factors like prolonged droughts and water shortages that require equal attention of authorities.

“Once alarm bells are raised by government organisations, the government should get straight to action and do all it could to minimise the potential losses, instead of waiting for a tragedy to occur and do things on an emergency basis,” he added.