Climate change is impacting the entire world, but the South Asian region is at particular risk. Pakistan is among those countries that will be negatively impacted by the adverse impacts of climate change. The Imran Khan led government recently stated that the country has made progress over the last four years, something that comes as a surprise to experts and the global community.
As an editorial in Dawn noted, “the announcement by SAPM on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam that carbon emissions in the country came down by 9pc from 2016 to 2020 comes as a pleasant surprise. According to Mr Aslam, the reduction in emissions was due to the government’s policies and nature- and technology-based initiatives in the field of climate adaptation. He said the government’s focus on nature-based interventions such as the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami and the Protected Areas Initiative had helped mitigate the harmful effects of climate change.”
As Dawn pointed out this reduction in carbon dioxide emissions does not appear sustainable because “most of the country’s new energy projects are coal-based, especially those related to CPEC” and the reduction could have been due to suspension of all economic and business activities because of Covid-19. To be meaningful, the reduction needs “to become a sustainable and permanent trend” which as of now appears unlikely.
