Climate change is no longer a myth but a gradually sinking reality with increasingly clear indications of its arrival. From the recently termed beyond salvage Great Barrier Reef in Australia to the shrinking polar caps in Antarctica, even the most cynical have started to see the very real impact of the global shift in climate.
Another thing that has clearly been established is Pakistan’s position as one of the worst affected by climate change, which has been reasserted at many forums from TedTalks to World Bank and United Nation reports.
In addition, another thing given Pakistan’s position when it comes to climate change is the need to lobby internationally given that it is one of the worst affected countries. According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2017, Pakistan ranks 7th in the list of countries most affected by climate change. The loss to GDP arising from the effects of climate change stands at roughly 0.65 percent of GDP according to the report.
The wake-up call has finally been heard back home with the government passing the Pakistan Climate Change Act 2017. The legislation has in turn created a climate change authority, climate change council and a climate change fund. Quite a flurry of activity indeed.
The council will be chaired by the PM with representation from the provinces including the chief ministers with the objective of building a framework that attempts to mitigate and adapt to the effect of climate change and coming up with appropriate responses to various threats posed by the same.
The Climate Change Authority will amongst other things establish policy mechanism for implementation of federal and provincial mitigation plans and projects, which will include renewable energy as well as conservation measures. Lastly, the climate change fund will be employed to meet expenses of the authority along with financial assistance for adaptation and mitigation projects for reducing the impact of climate change.
Yet the effectiveness of these measures remains to be seen given that mitigating the impacts of climate change require extensive coordination amongst government departments as well as the private sector. With the sad state of affairs when it comes to coordination in important issues such as economic policies and taxation measures, it is difficult to see hope in the provinces and the federation getting together on climate change, which is still on the back-burner.
Another factor at play is whether the authority will be able to get its proposals and initiatives implemented. If the purpose is to act in an advisory capacity, then the results will be disappointing given the similar fate
Also in the picture, is the sizeable amount of donor funding, which might see increased influx given the passing of this legislation. The Minister for Climate Change believes at least $14 billion is required annually for Pakistan to mitigate and adapt to the adverse impact of climate change.
Given the seriousness of the issue at hand, the importance of utilizing the fund for the purpose it was created for cannot be understated. But in a country where the likes of the Export Development Fund (EDF) and others have failed to facilitate the purpose of their creation, there is reason to be wary of where and how the next wave of donor funding for climate change is spent.
Although positive on paper, only time will tell the effectiveness and capacity of the role of the aforementioned authority, council and fund.
But given the fact that many experts view climate change as a much bigger threat to Pakistan than even terrorism, one can only hope that concern shown with the establishment of these institutions is real and here to stay.
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