Climate change: experts call for proactive adaptation practices

Experts on Thursday suggested a strategy to help people acclimatize with the changing climate. They were speaking at a closing ceremony of a five-year long 'Building Capacity on Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Areas of Pakistan (CCAP) project of WWF-Pakistan held at a local hotel. Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change, Arif Ahmed Khan, said that the issue of climate change may not be realized by general public in Pakistan but it had posed a major challenge to human beings on Earth.
He referred to COP21 held in Paris recently, saying that representatives of 195 nations had discussed the same issue. He warned that the next 25 to 30 years were 'very crucial' in terms of adverse impacts of climate change and called for proactive adaptation practices. Senior Manager, CCAP Project, Ali Dehlavi said that the temperature rise by 0.5 percent in the next 25 years scale down 8-10 per cent yield losses across all crops of Sindh and Punjab resulting in Rs 30,000 per acre loss to farm households.
General Manger Lead-Pakistan, Tahir Rasheed said that climate change posed a potential threat to development and poverty reduction efforts in Pakistan. The climate impacts are complex and require coordination across the departments, he said.
He urged the district and provincial governments to allocate more funds for tackling challenges emerging from climate change in the country. He emphasised for strong communication strategy to sensitize and create awareness among various stakeholders and local communities.
Deputy Director Sindh Fisheries Department, Muhammad Aslam Ansari, said that climate change was affecting the coastal communities and altering the prevailing environmental conditions. The communities, he said, are highly exposed to tidal flooding, cyclones, droughts and loss of the living resources.
The condition of Indus Delta continues to deteriorate for reduction in water flow into Indus River, he said, adding that ebbing water flow was damaging agriculture and fisheries sector in the country. Chief Meteorologist Muhammad Akram Anjum said that Pakistan had become prone to floods over the last five consecutive years. He warned that the sea level rise of 6mm per year was taking place because of an increase in temperature. He urged for conservation of water in flooding season with effective mechanism to utilize deluge in a better way. He called for effective climate resilient infrastructure in disaster prone areas.