ISLAMABAD (Urdu Times) Climate change a reality linked to economic development, PM Pakistan approves strategic plan

ISLAMABAD (Urdu Times) Pakistan was severely affected by the effects of climate change this year and faced 15 percent more rainfall than usual, making it one of the countries in the world least prepared to deal with the effects of climate change.
Climate change is a fundamental reality linked to Pakistan’s economic development, Pakistan’s future prosperity is conditional on dealing with climate risks.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed immediate measures to protect against possible monsoon risks next year. According to the NDMA’s forecast, there will be 22 to 26 percent more rainfall in the 2026 monsoon, so the government has decided to take emergency measures to prevent floods.
The Prime Minister gave immediate approval to the short-term plan of the Ministry of Climate Change and ordered that its implementation should start immediately. The plan aims to minimize losses through timely planning and effective strategies. The meeting was attended by federal ministers and senior officials, and the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Climate Change, the Ministry of Planning, and the NDMA to work with the provinces to formulate an integrated plan to address the impacts of climate change. The Ministry of Climate Change is a key ministry in Pakistan that works to address climate change and its impacts. Its aim is to protect Pakistan from the negative impacts of climate change and increase its capacity to adapt to them. The Ministry of Climate Change has prepared a short-term plan for Monsoon 2026, which has been approved by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The aim of this project is to minimize losses through timely planning and effective strategies. Specific measures for Monsoon 2026 include eliminating encroachments on waterways, widening the drainage system, building new infrastructure, immediately integrating the Early Warning System, and activating the Early Warning System at the tehsil and district levels. The Ministry of Climate Change has divided all the measures into short, medium and long term. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved the Monsoon 2026 Strategic Plan prepared by the Ministry of Climate Change. Documentary details of the Monsoon 2026 Strategic Plan have been revealed. According to the official document, the Ministry of Climate Change has divided the plan into three parts based on impacts and actionable measures. In 240 days, the infrastructure damaged by the previous monsoon will be repaired, all drainage canals and flood gates will be restored. According to the plan, affected or blocked drainage systems in urban areas will be repaired in advance, the existing infrastructure will be improved and expanded in 1 to 3 years, and new resilient infrastructure will be built in 4 to 5 years. The plan details state that the Ministry of Climate Change has divided all measures into short, medium and long term, measures to reduce flood impacts will be organized into different groups, the construction of resilient infrastructure will reduce future weather risks, all these measures will be taken across the country with the consultation and cooperation of the provinces.
The predictions regarding the 2026 monsoon are worrying, they are not just an environmental challenge but a serious threat to the economic survival of Pakistan. The National Disaster Management Authority and the Ministry of Climate Change have warned that the next monsoon is expected to be 22 to 26 percent more intense than this year. The country has not yet recovered from the negative effects of the past floods. We are struggling for a growth rate of 3 to 4 percent, while the upcoming climatic disasters can damage up to 9 percent of GDP, which can lead to a negative growth rate of five percent, and this deficit cannot be met with any external debt. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s instructions to start preparations for the 2026 monsoon now will be effective. Practical steps on the ground do not mean just collecting tents, medicines and rations, but scientific measures and building strong flood-proof infrastructure are essential. We have only 240 days for the 2026 monsoon. Utilizing this time, it is very important to immediately clean all drainage channels and drains in rural, urban and industrial areas, strengthen the embankments of rivers in Punjab and Sindh, and build quality spillways to deal with the possible cracks in the growing glacial lakes in the northern areas. The agricultural sector, the backbone of the country’s economy, may be in serious danger during the monsoon. The important cash crop cotton is constantly suffering from unusual climatic changes. If the farmers are destroyed, the industry will also be destroyed, which will also affect exports. The Ministry of National Food Security should immediately introduce flood-tolerant seed varieties and educate farmers about climate issues. The private sector should be taken into confidence in the National Resilience Plan so that industrial areas can be protected from floods caused by rains. We cannot stop the rain, but laziness and mismanagement can definitely be stopped. Climate change is accelerating, so our national preparedness should also increase at the same pace. According to the report, a group of 18 scientists and researchers affiliated with the World Weather Attribution Group based at the Grantham Institute of Imperial College in the United Kingdom declared that this unusual situation was the result of human activities, which further exacerbated the climate change crisis.The group, which included experts from universities and meteorological departments in Pakistan, the UK, France and the Netherlands, said the recent floods were caused by heavier than usual rainfall, and blamed human activity for the unusual weather. Pakistan’s monsoon season, which starts in late June and ends in September, brings 70 to 80 percent of the country’s annual rainfall, but often causes flooding. Although monsoon rains are crucial for replenishing reservoirs, they have become more intense in recent years. Dr Maryam Zakaria, from the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, said Pakistan’s monsoon had become so intense that even months with moderately heavy rainfall were now causing more deaths. The rainfall analysed in the report was not ‘record-breaking’, but it pointed to a wider trend, with climate change making floods increasingly dangerous. The floods, which followed heavy monsoon rains, hit Pakistan’s northern regions hard. Emergency was declared in several districts of the country, with floodwaters flooding roads, destroying homes and destroying crops. The study analyzed that between June 26 and August 3, 300 people died across the country, of which 242 deaths occurred in the northern region of Pakistan. Historical rainfall data showed that the recent rainfall in northern Pakistan was not particularly unusual compared to other years. In today’s climate, in which global temperatures have risen by 1.3 degrees Celsius, similar 30-day intense monsoon events are expected every 5 years. The report said that if humans had not heated the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, the intensity of the rainfall would have been much less, the researchers found that by combining weather data with climate models, climate change has made the heavy monsoon rains about 15 percent more intense. Pakistan (which is responsible for only 0.5 percent of the world’s historical carbon emissions) ranks 152nd in the world in terms of climate preparedness, a number that makes heatwaves, droughts and floods more severe. The report stressed the need for urgent action to protect communities from these risks. The report warned that monsoon rains in Pakistan will continue to become more intense unless the world shifts from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Every tenth of a degree increase in temperature will make monsoon rains more intense, highlighting the urgent need for a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The report said that Pakistan urgently needs international financial support for climate adaptation, and the country needs $40 billion to $50 billion annually to cope with climate impacts. Unless large-scale adaptation measures are taken, extreme weather events could cost Pakistan about $1.2 trillion by 2050, according to a previous UN report. At the COP meeting, rich countries (which are responsible for the largest carbon emissions) agreed to increase climate finance by $300 billion to developing countries by 2035. However, the report said that there is still a large gap between the current aid provided by developed countries and the amount needed. The report cited the UN as saying that developed countries are currently providing only $28 billion annually, which is $187 to $359 billion less than the amount needed. It was reported that more than 1,700 people died in the 2022 floods, which is evidence of how vulnerable Pakistan is to climate change, but three years later, monsoon floods are still causing deaths. According to the research, climate change is now being taken seriously in Pakistan, but there is a lack of international financial assistance and long-term planning. The record-breaking temperature of 48.5 degrees Celsius in northern Pakistan and the subsequent deadly rains in July are another clear reminder of the dangers Pakistan is facing with a global warming of only 1.3 degrees Celsius.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed to prepare now to avoid any loss of life and property in the monsoon next year and said that the Ministry of Climate Change, Ministry of Planning and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) should work with the provincial governments to formulate an integrated plan regarding climate change. According to a statement issued by the Media Wing of the Prime Minister’s Office, a review meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on the government’s strategy to prevent the harmful effects of climate change. The Prime Minister directed in the meeting that preparations should be made now to avoid the losses of the monsoon next year, the Ministry of Climate Change, the Ministry of Planning and the NDMA should work together with the provincial governments to make a coordinated plan regarding climate change. He also directed to prepare for holding a meeting of the National Water Council for planning at the national level regarding better water management, Shahbaz Sharif ordered that the implementation of the presented short-term plan should be started immediately.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan is among the ten countries where disasters like cloudbursts will continue to occur in the future, so we have to prepare for it. There should be an advance warning system to deal with disasters. The country also faced natural disasters in the form of floods during 2022. The relevant institutions will have to take coordinated measures to deal with climate problems. The fact is that Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has demanded access to simple and fast climate financing at the global level, saying that climate change has become an ‘existence threat’ for Pakistan. A statement issued by the Finance Division said that Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, while addressing the COP 30 Climate Finance Dialogue held in Brazil via video link, expressed concern over the complex procedures of the Green Climate Fund and highlighted Pakistan’s NDCs, National Adaptation Plan and Climate Prosperity Plan. He said that now is the time to focus on implementation and results, the fund should start making practical payments for losses. Muhammad Aurangzeb said that one-third of the World Bank’s $2 billion annual package for Pakistan is for climate projects. The Finance Minister acknowledged the support of the Asian Development Bank and international financial institutions and said that Pakistan is diversifying new climate financing sources, the country’s first Panda Bond will be issued by the end of this year. There has been progress in the Green Sukuk and Carbon Market projects, and technical assistance is important for investable climate projects.
184 countries have gathered in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations to form a historic agreement against plastic pollution, and these countries have been informed that a way must be found through which the global crisis that is destroying the ecosystem and polluting the oceans can be dealt with.
According to the report, at the beginning of the 10-day talks organized by the United Nations in Geneva, Ecuadorian diplomat Luis Vias Valdivieso, who chaired these talks, told more than 1,800 negotiators that we are facing a global crisis.
Plastic pollution is damaging ecosystems, polluting our oceans and rivers, threatening biodiversity, harming human health and placing an unfair burden on those most affected. The issue is urgent, the evidence is clear and we have a responsibility to address it. Plastic pollution has become so widespread that microplastics have been found on the world’s highest peaks, in the depths of the ocean, and in almost every part of the human body. However, five rounds of talks and three years of negotiations collapsed in Busan, South Korea, in December when oil-producing countries blocked a deal. Key figures leading the new effort are insisting that a deal is possible this time, with Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), saying that extensive diplomacy has taken place since Busan. UNEP’s Anderson said the talks between different regions and interest groups had created a new spirit. More than 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide each year, half of which is for single use. Only 15 percent of plastic waste is collected so that it can be recycled, but only 9 percent is actually recycled. About 46 percent ends up in landfill, 17 percent is incinerated and 22 percent becomes improperly managed waste. In 2022, countries agreed on a way to address the crisis by the end of 2024, but the final talks in Busan on a legally binding agreement, including on marine plastics, failed. Some countries wanted a tougher deal that would limit plastic production and eliminate harmful chemicals, but most oil-producing countries rejected a production ban and wanted to focus on waste management. Limiting plastic production is one of the most sensitive points of the discussion in Geneva, said Catherine Schneeberger, director of the Swiss Ministry of the Environment, which is responsible for the climate change. This is not a demand to limit production, but a message that needs to be conveyed to the producing countries in informal meetings. The agreement will cover the entire life cycle of plastics (from production to waste). We need to stop making plastics. Highlighting plastic pollution in South Asia, the World Bank in its report accused six countries of facilitating the transport of pollution across borders. Transboundary environmental pollution includes plastic, industrial waste, domestic wastewater and microplastics through 20 major rivers. According to the report, in addition to rivers and other transboundary environmental pollution such as air pollution, these countries are partners in socio-economic and waste sector challenges. High rates of plastic waste discharge have been identified in two major transboundary river basins, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM, which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) and the Indus Basin (which includes Afghanistan, India and Pakistan). Across South Asia, single-use plastic, in particular, is discharged into rivers, streams and drains due to poor waste management systems.COP30 host Brazil has presented the first draft of an agreement between countries at the UN climate talks, the report said. The draft includes a number of options on the most difficult issues, highlighting the deep divide between the nearly 200 countries present in Belém and the work still to be done to reach a final agreement. The 9-page global vision document, which points to a local concept of uniting for a common goal, leaves open a number of possibilities on Belém’s sensitive issues, trade measures, financial support for poor countries, and insufficient global carbon reduction targets. The rapid preparation of the draft on these complex points shows that the COP30 presidency is confident of achieving an outcome soon. It represents a clear advance from the previous text, and is probably one of the few examples in recent COP history of such a clear draft being issued so quickly, said Li Shu, a meteorologist at the Asia Society Policy Institute. The draft also shows a clear divide between a coalition that calls for a ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels, and another bloc led by oil-producing countries that opposes any such effort. It includes a proposal for an optional workshop to discuss low-carbon solutions, or a ministerial-level meeting to discuss pathways that would help countries gradually reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, and a third option to include no text at all on the subject. The draft also raises the possibility of countries’ nationally agreed climate commitments being reviewed annually instead of every five years, to allow for more frequent reviews of global progress in reducing greenhouse gases.
Pakistan’s focus on climate financing at COP30 Pakistan has put forward a call for climate financing of $50-60 billion per year. Projects of all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir were presented at COP 30. The Ministry of Climate Change provided administrative and technical support to the provinces in these projects. According to the Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan has received $500 million in the form of climate finance in the form of various projects. According to the World Bank report, Pakistan needs $348 billion in climate financing by 2030. Pakistan needs large-scale financial assistance to deal with environmental threats. At COP 30, Pakistan has sought solid support from the international community for climate financing. As a result of the efforts of the Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan submitted its new National Climate Targets (NDC 3.0) to the United Nations, which includes a demand for $565.7 billion in climate financing for environmental goals by 2035. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, each country submits its environmental targets every five years. According to the documents, Pakistan achieved the target of reducing greenhouse gases by 37 percent under NDC 2.0 between 2021 and 2025, and Pakistan achieved this target without any international financial assistance. Under the new targets, Pakistan has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1.28 billion tons by 2035 instead of 2.559 billion tons. During this period, Pakistan will reduce 17 percent from its own resources, while the provision of international financing and technology worth $565.7 billion has been declared mandatory for the remaining 33 percent reduction. Pakistan has demanded $565.7 billion in climate financing from the international community. According to the document, Pakistan is expected to have more than 38,000 MW of renewable and clean energy by 2035, while 30 percent of new vehicles in the country will be electric by 2030 and 3,000 electric charging stations will be established. Under the energy efficiency policy, Pakistan has also set a target of reducing emissions by 35 million tons by 2030, while calling for global cooperation to develop affordable, environmentally friendly technology and capacity-building.