The Threat of Climate Change to Pakistan's Economy

Although its carbon footprint is amongst the lowest in the world, the threat of climate change looms large for the country, with the potential to derail its economy. Coming as it does in the wake of several battles that the government is facing on the political-economy front, this news comes as a grim reminder to planners that serious, concerted and consistent effort is required to ensure that mitigation strategies are in place for the risks at hand.

The fact that this warning came from no one less than Dr. Pachauri, the Nobel laureate Chair of the IPCC, testifies to the credibility of the claims. Speaking at a recent conference on Climate Change organised in Islamabad by the Government of Pakistan, IUCN and DFID, Dr. Pachauri outlined the link between environmental sustainability and economic growth, pointing out the stress on public resources that changes in climate change can put, especially in areas such as public health. The Prime Minister was the chief guest at the conference and expressed governmental commitment to the cause, but I've always been wary of the ability of the planners to both accord due seriousness to environmental sustainability and to grasp the link between it, economic growth and public health issues. The UNDP Pakistan estimates that environmental degradation and neglect cost Pakistan Rs. 365 billion, although there are some encouraging signs, including the fact that Pakistan has been an advocate of looking to CNG as an alternative fuel to petrol and is in fact the largest consumer of CNG in Asia (see my earlier post related to this) and the UNDP believes that it is likely to meet the MDG targets for environment. But one is forced to think that when the problem is of the magnitude and depth that it is, much more than simply declaring 2009 as the 'National Year of the Environment' is required by the Government.

And importantly, the role of the private sector needs to be defined in addressing issues of sustainability, not only in their immediate spheres as business and corporate entities by employing more environment-friendly, efficient and cleaner technologies that meet regional and international standards, but also in terms of working with the government and communities, because the environment is everyone's business.