Serious efforts needed to deal with challenge: Pakistan submits only one-page target-free climate pledge to UN

Climate-induced disasters like floods and droughts have been exacerbating poverty in the country while the government still remains oblivious to plight of the people with no strategy to deal with this challenge. At a time when the international community is struggling to reach a global climate action plan during the upcoming COP-21, commonly known as Paris conference, Pakistan on Thursday submitted only a one-page target-free climate pledge to the United Nations.
"Pakistan is committed to reducing its emissions after reaching peak levels to the extent possible subject to affordability, provision of international climate finance, transfer of technology and capacity building," the country's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) says. In its INDC, the country also confesses to not having reliable data on the current emission levels. "As such Pakistan will only be able to make specific commitments once reliable data on our peak emission levels is available," it says.
A process of calculating the country's future emission projections through detailed studies and analysis is currently underway, it says, while promising that "the GHG (greenhouse gas) emission projections along with possibility of economy wide mitigation and its abatement cost will be determined after the completion of this exercise." According to Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan is ranked number three among the top ten most vulnerable countries to adverse impacts of climate change.
According to the 2006 Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment Report, the annual cost of environmental degradation in Pakistan has been estimated at Rs 365 billion ($4.2 billion). Environmental experts believe the annual cost of environmental degradation has now reached around Rs 450 billion ($5.2 billion). In the last five years, Pakistan has sustained $14.6 billion loss due to floods and other natural disasters, according to latest statistics released by the Ministry of Finance.
In the backdrop of all this vulnerability and financial losses, the government is still not prepared to tap sources of international financing for its different climate-friendly development projects. Countries such as Ethiopia, Mali, and Rwanda have received funds for multiple environmental projects from Green Climate Fund, while Pakistan has failed even to get accreditation of it. Secretary Ministry of Climate Change Arif Ahmad Khan, however, blames provincial governments for their inability to develop specific projects to get funding from international sources like Green Climate Fund.
A recent World Bank report "Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty," points out that climate change may reduce income of the bottom 40 percent of the population by more than 8 percent by 2030. The report shows that a food price rise could lead to increase in extreme poverty in most countries. A 100% increase in prices could result in about 30% increase in the poverty rate in Pakistan. In case of a 50% increase in prices, the poverty could jump over 10%, according to the report.
Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman, a lead expert on environment and climate change, says the government officials' lack of seriousness about the climate change will cost the country heavily. "It seems like Pakistan is going to miss a good opportunity to tap international financing for its numerous projects by submitting a vague and useless INDC," he said.
He said that even Afghanistan has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 13.6 percent by 2030 in its INDC submitted with the UN. "Our officials have committed criminal negligence and now millions of people will have to pay for it," he said.