A worsening climate crisis and its gatekeepers

So here we are sweltering amidst a sweltering heat wave. Nothing new here.

What is new is the high temperature being recorded in South Asia, with some areas crossing over 50C, ravaging communities, agriculture and more, offering no respite.

This is not a freak occurrence, in fact more likely the beginning of a slew of erratic weather behavior caused by the much-debated and long-denied global reckoning known as global warming.

According to the 'Climate Change Profile of Pakistan' published by the Asian Development Bank, by the end of the century, the annual mean temperature in Pakistan is expected to rise between 3 to 5 degrees, while the sea level along the Karachi coast to rise by upto 60 cm.

The Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranks Pakistan number 8 on the list of most susceptible countries.

We are fast moving towards a downward spiral of unpredictable and tenuous weather patterns.

What now?

Are government bodies helping mitigate the effects of global warming by enacting carbon taxes, setting manufacturing limits on carbon emissions, partnering with and encouraging solar initiatives and funding start-ups or offering research grants to education institutions or companies working towards finding an alternate means of energy use?

In 2018, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government enacted a 'Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme', an ambitious plantation drive pledging to revive forest and wildlife in Pakistan, slated to run until the end of 2023.

No doubt, the initiative will aim to promote cleaner air also. With the change of government, one can only hope the project reaches its completion.

Along the way, we heard rumblings of Pakistan looking to phase out coal power plants, and build more dams by 2028 to fulfill its energy needs, as part of the previous government’s contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement. This project now seem to be at a standstill.

Lets come to present day.

The World Economic Forum, currently underway in Davos, Switzerland, no doubt has a lofty agenda this year following a global pandemic, rising inflation and more. Amongst the topics to be discussed by global leaders collecting to discuss pressing issues affecting the world right now is climate change and the environment.

Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman was also in attendance, representing Pakistan and speaking about the urgency of curbing carbon emissions globally.

At a session on Monday titled, 'The Future of Democracy', she stated how we are sitting in an “antechamber of catastrophe…” referring to the climate crisis, while experiencing a “historic moment of not having the intellectual imagination or the leadership needed to stand down to the vested interests that are holding back the real changes needed to be make to the world”.

She emphasised how a transition to fossil fuels is absolutely needed , but that the carbon emission goal of “net zero is extremely far and probably unrealisable,” due to the fact that the developed world that led the revolution is still leading the way in carbon emissions.

Valid points, absolutely. Big oil and energy do need to be held accountable and enact CSR, as discussed at Davos, but that still leaves the bigger question unanswered.

Who is going to be bringing about the great reckoning and actually charting an actionable path forward, at home and globally?

It has to start at home, and quickly. Meanwhile, talks on this are likely to continue...

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