Pakistan Needs Climate Adaptation Not Mitigation – OpEd

Climate Change has become one of the most prominent issues humanity is facing. The world is seeing an increase in temperatures and weather related disasters, greatly endangering human lives. However, some nations are seeing its effects more vividly than others. Pakistan is one such country.

Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. There has been a marked increase of droughts, temperatures and erratic weather events in the country. An ideal example is that of the 2022 flooding in Pakistan which resulted in over $15 billion of economic loss to the country. Coupled with this, the country is seeing an increase in droughts and erratic and extreme weather abnormalities which has heavily affected the agriculture sector leading to crop loss and increasing economic, food and water insecurity.

Many suggest that the solution for this is for Pakistan to switch to renewable resources and “go green”. While that is a wise direction for the country to move towards from an economic standpoint, seeing as how the world is seeing a shift towards the renewable industry, it makes little sense as a solution for Pakistan against climate change and its effects. Pakistan is one of the lowest contributors to climate change. Pakistan’s global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission amounted to 0.9% of global GHG emissions according to a report by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This data can allow us to reasonably assume that Pakistan is not at fault for climate change and how it is devastating the country and therefore should not be held accountable and made to act alone in its mitigation. 

The majority of responsibility lies with developed nations of the Global North such as the United States and European countries which contributed to around 50% of GHG emissions globally due to their rapid industrialization. This proportionate responsibility argument raised by many nations such as Pakistan has led to the formulation of the idea of loss and damages. Loss and Damages refers to the irreversible damage caused by climate change to nations. One such example is the one given above of the 2022 floodings and the $15 billion of loss and damage. This loss is expected to be compensated by the nations who have been majorly responsible for climate change i.e, the developed nations. Through efforts and protests of many nations a loss and damages fund was agreed upon globally during the Conference of Parties (Cop 27) in 2022.

While this is a momentous step in holding the developed world accountable, I believe that this fund still is not the solution to solving Pakistan’s climate change issues. Pakistan suffers from political instability and this has led to various governance issues when it comes to implementing policies. The lack of transparency and accountability means that there is no guarantee that even if Pakistan does get loss and damages funds, it will be able to use them effectively. Going off of previous data, it is much more likely that those funds will end up being misused or be used in ineffective policies.

Climate change mitigation is a term that indicates reducing global carbon emissions to reduce and stop the effects of climate change. Pakistan as a negligent contributor to climate change does not need to focus on mitigation as it will have little effect on reducing the impacts of climate change in the country. What Pakistan requires is Climate Change Adaptation. Pakistan requires the means and technology to adapt to the erratic and changing weather conditions such as anti-flood technologies, advanced agricultural techniques to tackle water scarcity etc. This adaptation is impossible to achieve for Pakistan on its own. Thus Pakistan must implore foreign aid to arrive not in the form of dollars, but in forms of infrastructure as well as technology transfer to allow them the means of evolving with the rapidly changing climate. 

If Pakistan can gain access to adaptation technology as well as increase their own means of building such infrastructure, the nation could very well find a long-term solution to their growing resource insecurity and move towards a path of stability.