Stalling climate change

It is good to note that Pakistan has taken a timely decision to grapple with the problem of climate change. The University of Arid Agriculture in Rawalpindi recently hosted an international workshop on "Carbon and Water Exchange in Plants Changing Climatic Conditions", where the Federal Minister for Environment, Faisal Saleh Hayat, offered some details regarding his ministry's efforts towards stalling climate degradation.
These include establishment of a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and earmarking of a Rs 20 billion fund for various projects under a Medium Term Development Framework. As it is, most people in the developing world, including this country, tend to think of climate change as an issue that should be a concern of the advanced nations, which in the first place are responsible for triggering the process.
Indeed, the industrialised nations are to blame for polluting the environment and producing greenhouse gases that are responsible for climate change. Environment, nonetheless, knows no geographical boundaries. Industrial activity in the western countries may be responsible for the signs of melting in evidence at the polar ice cap and some major glaciers, but the phenomenon threatens to affect the entire globe in the form of floods, hurricanes, droughts and some other erratic weather patterns.
As the minister noted, global temperature is expected to go up from 2 to 4.5 degrees Celsius in not-too-distant a future. Experts say that the rapid industrialisation taking place in our two neighbouring countries, China and India, is impacting environment in Pakistan as well. And, of course, Pakistan itself is gearing to develop its manufacturing sector in a big way.
One likely effect of all this economic activity is a general increase in temperature -something that readily makes people wince in a warm climate country such as ours. But even more worrisome should be the threat the economic activity poses to the glaciers in our part of the Himalayan region. As the minister pointed out, the Indus River, the lifeblood of our agriculture, rises in the glaciers located in our northern region.
With the increase in temperatures these glaciers could melt by 2050, at first triggering colossal floods, and then drying up the rivers. It is frightening even to imagine the socio-economic consequences of such a meltdown.
Unlike many in the west who, despite an overwhelming body of evidence about the melting of polar ice cap and some major glaciers, are in a state of denial due to reasons of expediency, it is important to acknowledge the impending dangers to our environment and take timely preventive measures.
One of the measures that the government is preparing to undertake to counter the impact of carbon emissions is to plant trees since they absorb carbon. A sum of Rs 240 million has been earmarked for an afforestation drive. This is much desirable since trees are good for the environment in more ways than one. There is also need to adopt an integrated, pro-environment strategy.
In addition to expanding forest areas, the government needs to pay serious attention to the fact that environmental pollution, the kind of which is rampant in our urban centres, is bad not only as a serious health hazard (according to a report some 27000 people in Pakistan die from pollution related diseases every year) it also contributes to increase in temperatures.
Which, as we have noted above, in turn threatens to liquefy our glaciers. Hence it is imperative to introduce effective regulations to keep both traffic and industrial pollution within safe limits. Furthermore, while we look for new ways to enhance energy generation in order to meet the economy's fast growing requirements, the focus must remain on setting up cleaner and renewable energy projects. Our environment policy must be informed by these basic but crucial considerations.