KARACHI: Pakistan is facing serious challenges due to climate changes and there are major threats to water security, food security and energy security, Economic Survey 2013-2014 said.
The report said that Pakistan is facing rapid population growth coupled with unplanned industrial expansion which has placed enormous pressure on country’s natural resource base and have significantly increased the level of air, water and land pollution.
It said that the environment protection cannot be achieved without underpinning economic activity with sustainable development.
Environmental degradation along with poor home hygiene, lack of basic sanitation and unsafe drinking water has a huge impact on the health of the population, particularly children under five.
The report added that government of Pakistan has Climate Change Division and entrusted it with the mandate to protect environment of the country. While climate change is a global phenomenon, its impacts is felt more severely by the developing world due to their greater vulnerabilities and lesser capacity to manage the effects of climate change, and similarly, within society, by marginal and vulnerable groups including women and children. Pakistan’s emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are much lower than those of the rest of the world.
The government of Pakistan has devised Climate Change Policy to ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in the economically and socially vulnerable sectors of the economy and to steer Pakistan towards climate resilient development.
It is to inform that efforts are underway to attain goals of sustainable social and economic development, ensuring water, food, energy and environment securities, without over-exploiting forests and ecosystems, to meet the needs of present and future generations.
Economic Survey 2013-2014: climate change threats identified as water-, food-; energy security
