Climate Change to Cost Pakistan $14 billion Annually

Climate Change to Cost Pakistan $14 billion Annually

Saturday, March 24, 2012
Islamabad: Climate Change could cost the economy of Pakistan up to 14 billion dollars annually for natural disasters and other losses, which are almost 5% of the GDP, said former state minister for environment, Malik Amin Aslam.


He was addressing a seminar titled, “Outcomes of Post-Durban Climate Change Negotiations” organised by the Centre of Excellence, Environmental Economics and Climate Change, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) here on Thursday.


PIDE’s Vice Chancellor Dr Rashid Amjad said that unfortunately such global conferences are becoming a futile exercise as all member countries either developed or developing want to safeguard their own agendas and individual benefits.


“However, there is a strong need to understand that instead of upholding individual interests and blaming one another for GHG emissions we should look for practical and collective preventive measures as climate change is a threat for the entire world,” he said.


Amin Aslam said that the Durban Climate Change Negotiations were very important platform to discuss the three challenges like resuscitate the Kyoto Protocol, deliver climate finance to vulnerable countries and how to survive in the overall economic recession.


Talking about its implication on Pakistan he said that Pakistan is a very low emitter but one of the worst victims of climate change, as according to German watch places Pakistan as ‘most affected’ for 2010 and in top 10 for 1990-2010.


He said that Pakistan was focused on its red lines like Pakistan should be included in extreme climate vulnerability definition. He added that Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate change but on the other hand a country with a sharply rising emissions future.


He said in Pakistan maximum natural disasters (90%) are climate related and the damage costs of these natural disasters is going up with the top three disasters occurring in the past three years, “Most alarming thing is that the frequency of these natural disasters is going up with 60 pc occurring in the past ten years.

Sindh Flooding And Climate Change

Climate change blamed for Sindh flooding

Dr Qamar uz Zaman Chaudhry

According to the lead author of Pakistan Climate Change Policy, Dr. Qamar uz Zaman Chaudhry, climate change may be the responsible of severe floods in Sindh. – AFP Photo


ISLAMABAD: A weather scientist on Friday blamed climate change for the unprecedented torrential monsoon rains in Sindh that have caused severe flooding in the 16 districts of Sindh province.


“If we look at the frequency and the trend of the extreme weather events impacting Pakistan then it is easy to find its linkage with climate change,” said Dr. Qamar uz Zaman Chaudhry Advisor, Climate Affairs in a statement here.


The pattern of recent extreme weather events in Pakistan show clear indication of increased frequency and intensity of such events in Pakistan which is in line with the international climate change projections, he added.


Dr Qamar, who is also the lead author and architect of the country’s first Draft National Climate Change Policy, said Pakistan is heading for increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, which includes frequent floods and droughts.


“We need to adapt and plan for that,” he said and added, the formulation of Draft National Climate Change Policy is the first step in this direction.


He said the rains in Sindh are the highest ever recorded monsoon rains during the four weeks period. Before the start of these rains in the second week of August, Sindh was under severe drought conditions and it had not received any rainfall for the last 12 months.


The last severe rainfall flooding in Sindh occurred in July 2003, he said and added, but this time the devastating rains of 1150 mm in Mithi, Mirpurkhas 676 mm, Diplo 779 mm, Chachro 735 mm, N. Parker 792 mm, Nawabshah 547 mm, Badin 512 mm, Chhor 456 mm, Padidan 381 mm Hyderabad 249 mm etc during the four weeks period have created unprecedented flood situation in Sindh.


According to Dr. Qamar, the total volume of water fallen over Sindh during the four weeks is estimated to be above 37 million acre feet, “which is unimaginable.”


He said that the rainfall was predicted well in advance by Met Office and the disaster management agencies were well prepared. “But the scale of this natural calamity combined with the topography of the area having very poor natural drainage. Most of water stagnates and breaches in LBOD and irrigation channels further complicated the scale of flooding.”


Dr. Qamar said that it was also forecast that in Pakistan climate change would be causing considerable increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, coupled with erratic monsoon rains causing frequent floods and droughts, and increased temperature would result in enhanced heat and water stress conditions, particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions.

Climate Change In Pakistan

PAKISTAN NOW THE MOST VULNERABLE COUNTRY TO DISASTERS DUE TO CLIMATIC CHANGE

ISLAMABAD:
In the list of countries most vulnerable to disasters due to climate change, Pakistan’s ranking has been downgraded to 16 in 2011-2012 from its previous position at 29 a year earlier, according to the Climate Change Vulnerability Index by Maple Croft, an organisation which maps over 100 global risks.
The country is now facing serious wide-ranging climatic hazards with frequent occurrence of floods, cyclones and droughts. Pakistan has been suffering from a major drought for the past four years which according to experts is likely to continue. At the same time, yearly floods triggered by prolonged monsoon rains have destroyed vast residential and production lands. Earthquakes and cyclones have also become an annual feature.
“The government needs to prioritise disaster risk reduction and invest in systems today to reduce the cost of damage in the future,” said Adviser on Disaster Risk Reduction, OXFAM, Javeria Afzal. “Pakistan was familiarised with disaster preparedness after the 2005 earthquake.” Responsibilities of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority and the National Disaster Management Authority have not been redefined after changes in laws and policies. There are scientific centres operational in Pakistan to determine what the situation would look like in 2030, she added.  “It won’t be a pretty sight if there is no planning for tomorrow. “
According to Climate Change and Environment Planning and Development Division, if proper measures are not taken, adaptation costs are likely to exceed 10% in the next 40 years ranging from $13 to $40 per capita. Adaptation costs in the year 2010 were $5.75 billion, while losses due to floods were estimated to be 5% of GDP.
Director General Jawed Ali Khan stated that the government is in the process of finalising the National Climate Change Policy.  A disaster management organisation will be set up to address threats posed by natural disasters in the near future.  It will also be responsible for dealing with the humanitarian aspects of emergencies, preparedness, response and recovery in particular to lower the impact of disasters.
In recent decades, temperatures in Pakistan have witnessed accelerated jumps compared to global variations. At 53.70C in Mohenjo Daro broke previous world records in May 2010 and temperature in Lahore was the highest in 78 years in 2007. Severe cyclonic storms hit the Arabian Sea in May 2010 which is very rare phenomenon in the history of the sea. It is very likely that weather extremes, heatwaves and heavy rains will occur with increased frequency. There will be more rainfall at higher latitudes and less in most subtropical areas.
Tropical cyclones like typhoons and hurricanes will become more intense, with larger peak wind speeds and heavier precipitation associated with ongoing increases of tropical sea surface temperatures.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2011.

Pakistan most environmentally engendered country of region

Pakistan most environmentally engendered country of region

According to experts Pakistan is among the most vulnerable countries affected to climate change and also an environmentally challenged state. – Reuters Photo

KARACHI: A safe environment is prerequisite for healthy life. Major environmental issues currently confronting Pakistan include water, energy, pollution and waste management, salinity and water logging, irrigated agriculture, biodiversity and climate change. Pakistan being one of the most urbanized countries of the region is facing overall deterioration in all these areas.

Environmental hazards have become a major global issue in of this century. Rapid economic development and manmade interference to the natural systems are the main reasons behind this problem. To address this issue, the initial step is to monitor the extent of these hazards.

The Institute of Space Technology (IST), Karachi Campus in collaboration with National Space Agency (SUPARCO), organized a Five Days short training on Integrating Ground Based Methods and Spatial Techniques for Environmental Monitoring, from 24-28 October, at its National Centre For Remote Sensing and Geo-Informatics Karachi, for sensitizing the above mentioned issues. The Institute of Space Technology, established in year 2002 offers graduate and undergraduate programs in a number of specialized fields of engineering and science. The objective of this course is to train various stakeholders in an area where integrated approach utilizing geospatial and ground based monitoring techniques are required to address environmental issues.

Recent advances in application of Satellite Remote Sensing (RS) for environmental monitoring have provided the capacity to acquire the needful information at spatial and temporal scales. Through integrating Remote Sensing data with ground based data, an advanced approach to study environmental issues are now possible. SUPARCO has been actively promoting uses of space science and technology for the socio economics uplift in the country as well as in the Ummah. Its research and application programs cover remote sensing for earth resources and environmental studies.

The course was inaugurated by Imran Iqbal, Member Space Applications and Research of SUPARCO. A number of participants hailing from brotherly Islamic countries are participating in is course.

This training program encompassed a number of areas such as Environmental Issues (both local and Global), Environmental Monitoring and Impact Assessment, Introduction to Satellite System and their Application,

Satellite Based Environmental Monitoring, GIS for Water Resources using hydrological, model Arc Hydro (ESRI Software), Snow and Glacier Monitoring and Modeling, Environmental problems of Pakistan and their Solutions (success stories by environmental experts of Pakistan), Hands on Exercises using Remote Sensing, GIS and Hydrologic Software.

A Summary Of Environmental Issues Of Pakistan

Pakistan – Summary of the Environmental Issues 
APRIL 27, 2012

The Most Critical Environmental Issues in Pakistan

A number of serious environmental problems are inherent in the Pakistan, which are of great ecological concern in terms of its sustainable economic future. These include

soil erosion,

pesticide misuse,

deforestation,

desertification,

urban pollution,

waterlogging

& salinity,

freshwater pollution and

marine water pollution, just to name a few. The major constraint to overcoming these problems, in-fact perhaps the main contributor to their intensity is the population growth, which is very high in contrast to the natural limited resources that are available to the people. Also included in the constraints is the unsustainable use and management of these resources. Around 150 million people live in this country, making it the seventh most populous country in the world. The rate of population growth is one of the fastest and according to estimates it would double in just 25 years (UNDP 1997). What is obvious from this is, if the population continues to grow at this rate, it would take a severe toll in the environment. The reason being that the country is not endowed with the resources required sustaining a huge population.

Although it is primarily an agricultural country, the landscape is predominantly arid. Water, already a scarce commodity in most parts of the country, is now facing further shortages. This is also due in part to inadequate distribution and the coercion of the water-tanker mafia. This shortage is hindering the country's potential to develop agriculture. There are limited indigenous sources of energy, fossil fuel reserves are low and there is no great potential in the biomass energy. The combination of a large population and poor resource environment means that judicious means of energy use and minimum waste systems of production as well as lifestyles must be employed for sustainable development. The picture in Pakistan is however very different in fact totally opposite to this. Energy use is excessively inefficient; Pakistan's GDP per unit energy used is 4.0, which ranks it 69th out of 110 countries. This waste of energy is combined with the need to import fossil fuels and as a consequence there is a very low productive per capita use of energy. The use of raw materials is also inefficient and many reusable resources are discarded as waste. Only 3% of the industrial plants meet international waste treatment standards. There are serious effluent problems and lack of sanitation affecting the natural resources and posing unmitigated health risks.

    Industry in Pakistan is one of the major causes of pollution and unhealthy environment, which is dangerous for biodiversity and human life alike. As far as the industry in Pakistan is concerned, almost all-chemical waste is dumped untreated into the river system from where it is taken out to sea. A large number of industries discharge deadly and toxic waste into storm-drains, open nullahs or in the Lyari and Malir rivers. These include leather tanning units, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, refineries, chemical, textile, paper and pulp, engineering works and thermal power plants. According to a PCSIR (1999) study, huge amounts of toxic metals have been found in the marine life, such as fish, lobster, crabs and shrimp. The metals include mercury, cadmium, chromium, lead, arsenic, and zinc. Many of these metals are carcinogens and can cause genetic deformities and other fatal diseases. They are mainly released by the industrial estates. Hardly 2% of these industries have the facilities to treat their effluents before releasing. Poor natural resource management over many years and continuing high population growth has had a negative impact on Pakistan's environment. Agricultural runoff–caused by ongoing deforestation–and industrial runoff have polluted water supplies, and factory and vehicle emissions have degraded air quality in the urban centers. Similar to other developing countries, Pakistan has focused on achieving self-sufficiency in food production, meeting energy demands, and containing its high rate of population growth rather than on curtailing pollution or other environmental hazards. As a result, "green" concerns have not been the government's top priority. Yet, as Pakistan's cities suffer from the effects of air pollution and unplanned development has caused degradation, environmental issues have become more salient.

Safeguarding public health, as well as preserving Pakistan's natural wonders, has made environmental protection increasingly important. In an attempt to redress the previous inattention to the nation's mounting environmental problems, in 1992 the government issued its National Conservation Strategy Report (NCSR) outlining Pakistan's state of environmental health, its sustainable goals, and viable program options for the future with the National Conservation Goals Building on the Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance of 1983, the NCSR stipulated three goals for the country's environmental protection efforts: conservation of natural resources; promotion of sustainable development; and improvement of efficiency in the use and management of resources. Fourteen program areas were targeted for priority implementation, including energy efficiency improvements, renewable resource development/deployment, pollution prevention/reduction, urban waste management, institutional support of common resources, and integration of population and environmental programs. In addition, in 1993 Pakistan applied National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) (Revised in 1999) to municipal and liquid industrial effluents and industrial gaseous emissions, motor vehicle exhaust, and noise. However, attempts to legislate environmental protection have fallen short, and regulations have not been enforced strongly. Enforcement does not imply effectiveness, though–even if regulations were strictly enforced, many industries would be unable to comply: when new revised environmental regulations were implemented in 1999, only 3% of industries were able to pass the test for compliance.