Experts call for adequate funds for climate change related projects

Islamabad: The experts have opined that the government must allocate adequate funds for the projects related to the climate change in the upcoming fiscal budget as it has been causing annual losses worth Rs365 billion.

Shahid Malik, an expert, said the annual cost of environmental degradation in Pakistan has been estimated at Rs365 billion ($4.2 billion). Inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene account for Rs112 billion ($1.3 billion), agriculture soil degradation for Rs70 billion ($807 million) and range land degradation and deforestation Rs6 billion ($69 million).

"The government should increase annual funds for the Climate Change Ministry to new heights because if it becomes capable enough to cope with the increasing challenges then it would help avoid financial losses in terms of health and crops production," he said.

Dr Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry, a lead author of the National Climate Change Policy and an expert on climate change, said Pakistan may face isolation in the international community if it fails to take effective measures to cope with fast increasing challenges.

Dr Pervaiz Amir, an environmental, said Pakistan falls in the most vulnerable categories of climate change but it is doing nothing to cope with the challenge. He warned that Pakistan may also lose foreign investment in different sectors if it never expresses its willingness to deal with the challenges of climate change.