Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 10 billion tree plantation programme is coming along incredibly well as on Saturday, government officials, teachers and students, politicians and social workers planted a record 700,000 saplings in Attock city. Tree plantation is not only vital for the green future of Pakistan, but it will also ensure a healthy environment for the coming generations. Another encouraging aspect of such programme’s is the fact that the federal government is targeting to create 200,000 new green jobs by the end of 2021 under its ecological protection and restoration projects.
In addition to the Billion Tree Tsunami, the government has introduced multiple other campaigns to combat climatic issues. Such initiatives should continue and must be appreciated; however, this is not where the line should be drawn. Given how Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to climate related threats, a more holistic strategy will be required to cope with future challenges.
Pakistan’s increasing vulnerability has been illustrated with the substantial increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, droughts, floods and heatwaves. The effects are likely to become more severe due to our geographic location, heavy reliance on agriculture and water resources, and low capacity to deal with climate emergencies.
Sectors such as water, agriculture, livelihood and economy at large have been and are projected to be impacted seriously by climate change. The accelerated warming, coupled with changing water availability in the future, underscores the need to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts along with efficient disaster preparedness and response actions to confront the climate-related hazards and disasters. The impact of these changes will be felt differently across the country. Therefore, it is crucial to formulate a bottom-up response to climate change. This will require the government to work in conjunction with federating units to increase their capacity to tackle climate issues.