CLIMATE CHANGE
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ISLAMABAD, Apr 17 2019 (IPS) - Pakistan, which has been listed as the 7th most vulnerable country
affected by climate change, is now seriously tackling the vagaries of weather, both at the official as well as
non-official level.
Pursuant to an initiative launched by the Pakistan Parliament’s Upper House, the Senate, which specially
entrusted a sub-Committee of the Standing Committee on Climate Change to focus on “Green and Clean”
Islamabad, media, civil society and students have taken up the cudgels on combating climate change.
On April 10, over 500 students and faculty of one of the prominent universities of Islamabad, COMSATS,
launched the “Say No to Plastics” campaign which includes distribution of flyers underlining hazards of
plastics use, backed by a door-to-door awareness campaign as well as cautioning against plastic littering.
This is just one component of the campaign against environmental degradation in Pakistan, the seeds of which
were planted in 2014 when a similar Senate sub-Committee declared the “Right to a clean, green and healthy
environment” as a fundamental Human Right. That sub-Committee also published Pakistan’s first Media
Manual on Environmental Degradation and Climate Change. This was the outcome of the first-ever Public
Hearings on environment and climate change in Pakistan’s parliament which incidentally is the first Green
Parliament in the world since it is powered by solar panels, a gift from China.
According to experts, Pakistan has faced around 150 freak weather incidents as a result of climate change in
the past 20 years: flash floods, smog in winter, forest fires in summer, melting glaciers, freaky heatwaves,
landsides, displaced population, etc. During floods in 2010-11, almost 10% of Pakistan’s population was
displaced in 2 provinces, one in the North and another in the South. Last year, the costs of extreme weather as
a consequence of climate change, were listed at $ 384 million and in the past 20 years, there has been a cost of
almost $ 2 billion to the national economy because of the ravages of climate change. Efforts are being
undertaken to mitigate the problem. For instance, some $ 120 million funds have been expended in the country
in the past 5 years to arrest forest degradation and to promote tea plantations . There has also an effort to bring
about a more eco-friendly energy mix for Pakistan.
Pakistan has an installed capacity of over 30,000 MG of electricity. Out of this, 60% is being generated
through imported fuel including furnace oil, coal etc. while 30% is via hydropower, 6% nuclear and only 4%
generated on renewable energy. The share of renewable energy would be enhanced to 25% of the total by 2025
and 30% by 2030.
In this context, an interesting conference convened in the last week of March in the picturesque British
countryside retreat at Wilton Park, organised by the Climate Parliament, a UK-based body promoting
cooperation on climate change among parliamentarians. A large number of parliamentarians from Asian
countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Pakistan and Mongolia participated, as
well as leading renewable energy experts plus the International Solar Alliance.
Termed as the Green Grids Initiative, the purpose was to discuss and educate the participants on steps that need
to be taken for a “renewable-powered planet”. The focus was also on regional grid interconnectivity so that
regions can promote cooperation in renewable energy. An interesting side event to this conference was a
comprehensive briefing on promoting “Green Cooking”, since fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal and kerosene
are amongst the climate pollutants emitted from traditional rural area cooking in most Third World countries.
Globally, up to 25% of black carbon emissions come from household cooking, heating and lighting. In many
Asian and African countries, household cooking can account for as much as 60-80% of black carbon
emissions. Therefore, the efforts to mitigate the consequences of climate change and environmental
degradation also require an easily accessible industrial and technological approach that would make clean
cooking accessible to the 3 billion people who live without it.
Among the initiatives for the way forward proposed at the meeting at Wilton Park, was the need for a special
bank for renewable energy similar to the special bank established for infrastructure, the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB), so that availability of capital serves as an opportunity to promote renewable energy .
That would be an incentive for developing countries to promote easily available renewable energy in their
energy mix. Another proposal that emerged in the context of South Asia was to implement the already existing
SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy, which focuses on electricity, signed by all members of the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 2014.
While there are bureaucratic bottlenecks plus issues of capacity and legality, what emerged from the discussion
was also the need for the right vision and political will to take this battle for a green economy forward.
Political conflicts serve as an impediment for regional energy cooperation while influential lobbyists like the
Oil Lobby serve as a roadblock against renewable energy utilization. For decades, for instance, Pakistan was
hostage to imported oil with a whopping bill of $ 20 billion per annum, while little or no effort was undertaken
to look at cleaner or cheaper sources of energy. The key role in this context is, therefore, both of
parliamentarians in providing the vision and the will as well as media and civil society to promote greater
awareness and expose machinations of powerful vested interests.
It is heartening that in the context of Pakistan, there has been accelerated citizen activism like the “Say No to
Plastics” campaign. In the past five years, citizens and parliamentarians of Islamabad have gone to the
Supreme Court against attempts by builders and the construction lobby to alter the master plan of Islamabad,
against the cutting of trees and building of high rises on green areas to benefit the real estate lobby. In both
instances, the Supreme Court upheld the citizens plea to preserve, protect and promote a clean and green
environment in Pakistan’s Federal Capital, Islamabad, which is relatively young at a little over 50 years,
sprawling among the green hills that make it one of the most beautiful capitals of the world. The good thing is
that the battle to combat Climate Change has now been taken up by not just the government but the people,
civil society, parliamentarians, media and concerned citizens, who have organised themselves for this cause
including such proactive group of professional women volunteers who call themselves “Green Force” to lobby
on environmental issues, which gives hope that this battle can and will be won in a country that is faced with
some of the gravest challenges to its future due to climate change.
Mushahid Hussain was Bureau Chief of the Inter Press Service (IPS) during 1987-1997 & in 2014, he
launched the first Public Hearings on Environment & Climate Change in the Pakistan Parliament. As Senator,
he chairs the Senate SubCommittee on ‘Green and Clean Islamabad’ which has launched a campaign to ban
plastic use in the Pakistani capital.
SDGs
A fast-changing climate, conflict, inequality, persistent pockets of poverty and hunger and rapid urbanization are
challenging countries’ efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a UN report
launched in New York today.
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 found that conflict and climate change were major contributing
factors leading to growing numbers of people facing hunger and forced displacement, as well as curtailing progress
towards universal access to basic water and sanitation services.
For the first time in more than a decade, there are now approximately 38 million more hungry people in the world,
rising from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016. According to the report, conflict is now one of the main
drivers of food insecurity in 18 countries. In 2017, the world experienced the costliest North Atlantic hurricane
season on record, driving the global economic losses attributed to the disasters to over $300 billion.
At the same time, the Report found that more people are leading better lives than they were just a decade ago. The
proportion of the world’s workers living with their families on less than 1.90 per person a day declined significantly
over the past two decades, falling from 26.9 per cent in 2000 to 9.2 per cent in 2017.
The under-five mortality rate dropped by almost 50 per cent and in the least developed countries, the proportion of
population with access to electricity has more than doubled between 2000 and 2016. However, in 2015, 2.3 billion
people still lacked even a basic level of sanitation service and 892 million people continued to practice open
defecation. In 2016, there were 216 million cases of malaria compared to 210 million cases in 2013 and close to 4
billion people were left without social protection in 2016.
The SDG Report presents an overview of progress toward achieving the Goals, which were unanimously adopted by
countries in [Link] Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin said “Transitioning
towards more sustainable and resilient societies also requires an integrated approach that recognizes that these
challenges—and their solutions—are interrelated.”As the global community moves forward to achieve the SDGs
and address existing challenges, reliable, timely, accessible and disaggregated data is critically needed. This requires
technology and innovation, increased resources and political commitment to build strong data and statistical systems
in all countries.
Other findings of the Report include:
Rates of child marriage have continued to decline around the world. In Southern Asia, a girl’s risk of marrying
in childhood has dropped by over 40 per cent between 2000 and 2017.
Nine out of 10 people living in cities breathe polluted air.
In 2016, the absolute number of people living without electricity dropped below the symbolic threshold of
one billion.
Land degradation threatens the livelihoods of over one billion people.
04/10/2019 Apia, Samoa The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will work hand
in hand with governments and other partners in the Pacific to accelerate improvements to sustainable nutrition
sensitive food systems while helping to mitigate the negative effects of climate change on agriculture.
The pledge was made today at a joint meeting of Pacific Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry, as part of the
Pacific Week of Agriculture being held in Samoa. The meeting of government ministers was convened jointly
by FAO and the Pacific Community (SPC).
Many Pacific island countries, and small island developing states (SIDS) around the world, are
disproportionately threatened by climate change and the impacts of severe weather events. The toll on human
lives and livelihoods, as well as the damage to food security, can be overwhelming. Small size and isolation
have also led to unhealthy diets though an increasing reliance on imported, processed foods. Many of these
foods are high in fat, sugar and salt, leading to a crisis of obesity. The Pacific region is home to all the
countries ranked in the top ten highest obesity rates globally, and it has the highest prevalence of diabetes per
capita.
“While responding to obesity is a big challenge, the prevalence of stunting in children under five in the Pacific
is also a major concern. It is running at almost 40 percent, the highest rate of any subregion in Asia and the
Pacific,” said Kundhavi Kadiresan, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and
the Pacific. “Globally, the prevalence of undernourishment is around 17.5 percent in SIDS countries compared
to a worldwide average of around 11 percent,” she added in her opening remarks to the Ministers.
Working hand in hand in the Pacific to meet the 2030 deadline
The region has made progress in implementing an action programme on food security and nutrition, but much
more will need to be achieved if the Pacific Islands are to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
“This is real progress, but what is still needed is a paradigm shift to accelerate actions and achieve real impact
on the nutrition front and in responding to the threats of climate change in the Pacific,” Kadiresan said.
“Indeed, just last week, our FAO Director-General outlined a new initiative that matches the least developed
SIDS – those with the highest rates of hunger and poverty – together with developed countries to support the
former’s development. The “Hand-in-Hand Initiative” will reach out to a wide range of partners including
governments, the private sector, global foundations and others.”
The meeting heard how a multi-pronged approach could respond to the twin challenges – one that places
modern technology and new innovations into the hands of small scale farmers alongside a back-to-basics
approach, rediscovering healthy, locally produced foods that will improve diets and lower the reliance on
imported, processed foods.
“Re-invigorating and re-establishing production of some of the healthier and naturally available local foods is a
win-win approach. After all, generations of Pacific Islanders who farmed the lands and harvested fish from the
sea knew what they were doing! They were providing nutritious foods for their families and maintaining
livelihoods that were passed father-to-son, mother-to-daughter, father-to-daughter and so on,” Kadiresan said.
“Today we call these food systems and value chains. The names might have changed, but the sensibilities have
not.”
Implementing climate-smart agriculture to boost production in the face of steadily rising temperatures and sea
level, and increasing adaptive resilience in the face of more frequent natural disasters is another priority.
The meeting also observed a need for more investment in statistics. Pacific Island countries have very scarce
data on food insecurity and malnutrition, which hampers efforts to track progress toward achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals.
Gaborone, October 3, 2019 – The African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC) Secretariat today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen
resilience in the region through adoption of innovative frameworks on disaster risk management and financing.
The SADC region is prone to a myriad of climate and natural disaster risks including droughts, floods, tropical
cyclones, storms, epidemics etc. These have had devastating impacts on the populations with negative
consequences for livelihoods and economic growth.
The impact of these disasters has confirmed the need for strengthening existing preparedness and response
mechanisms to match the changing nature of risks.