Pakistan’s Climate Change Crisis: Climate-Induced Events, Cloud Burst, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods and Critical Responses

Abstract

Pakistan is at a crossroads with the impacts of climate change having a severe and escalating effect on the country which is a minimal contributor to climate change with contribution of less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Pakistan is ranked in the top most climate vulnerable countries and is one of the most affected nations in the world to experience a complete transformation of the hydrological cycle (restructuring of weather system) that has replaced predictable and stable weather systems with intense and localized destructive weather phenomena. The phenomena of “Cloud Burst” and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) have become new, more powerful, frequent and more prevalent form of climate change, causing destructive flash floods and landslides in urban and mountainous regions. This article presents different ways in which global warming and climate disasters affect Pakistan’s water, agriculture and socioeconomic sectors. The startling disconnect between Pakistan’s ambitious climate policies and implementation has not only been profound, but it has been deeply recurring. No doubt, the country is equipped with comprehensive national strategies and contingency plans, but it suffers from a highly reactive response crippled by daunting institutional, financial, political and climate adaptation funding gaps. Over-reliance on external finance undermines climate adaptation funding and creates a highly unpredictable and unstable planning for climate-induced events, coupled with lack of coordinated governance between the federal and provincial governments. Embracing a proactive, climate-compatible development approach is crucial for Pakistan’s defending its future. Adapting this integrated framework requires greater authority alongside optimizing and mobilizing domestic physical resources. Strengthening local communities, empowering them, building local resilience and clarifying institutional mandates are imperative and needs of the time.