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.