Climate goals

German Watch, a sustainable development advocacy group, has ranked Pakistan in its long-term ranking fifth among the countries most-affected by extreme weather events. The Index showed Pakistan among 10 countries most affected by climate change in the last 20 years due to its geographical location. It may be added that the climate crisis is affecting every country and Pakistan is no exception in terms of impacts of the crisis and heightened vulnerability to it. Global warming is disrupting not only national economies but affecting lives and livelihoods of people and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow. It merits a mention that the country has passed a crucial milestone on the road to environmental protection by meeting the overarching United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, which calls for urgent actions to combat climate change and its impacts, 10 years ahead of the deadline. It is a complement to the official SDG indicators and the voluntary national reviews. By achieving the Climate Action SDG 13, Pakistan has proved that it is committed to global efforts against the challenge of climate change to protect life on Planet Earth.

It is worth mentioning that the government is making all-out measures to boost the country’s climate resilience through various climate change adaptation and mitigation policy measures. The government is highly environmentally-aware and knows the negative impacts of climate change on the country's various socio-economic sectors, particularly water, energy, food, and health sectors. Also, the country has launched initiatives for afforestation, renewable energy, environmental protection, efficient water management initiatives, introduction of clean fuel, and transformation of the transport sector through introduction of electric vehicles, floodwater management and national parks' conservation to achieve environmental conservation and making these socio-economic sectors climate resilient.

Khan Faraz

Peshawar