Federal caretaker Minister for Environment Syed Wajid Hussain Bukhari has said that there is need for taking immediate steps to tackle the effects of climate change.
Addressing the participants of 'World Mountain Day' function here on Monday, he said the Ministry of Environment had established Technical Advisory Committee to overcome the environmental issues in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, the IUCN representative Sofia Shafiq said that the climate change was badly affecting the mountain regions of Pakistan as glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster.
According to the international climatologists, she said, these glaciers might disappear in decades. The rapid melting of the glaciers would result in excessive water flows and flooding and it would eventually cause a total loss of glaciers affecting availability of fresh water, she observed.
"There would likely be a permanent decrease in water flows of about 30-40 percent by mid-century. It would result in reduced river flows that would exacerbate sea intrusion in Indus Delta, salination of groundwater, destruction of agricultural land and so on," she said. She added that reduction in the river flows as a result of climate change would impact Pakistan's hydel generation capacity creating energy crisis.
She told the participants that 67 percent of Himalayan glaciers are retreating at a startling rate due to the change in the climate. At this rate scientist predict the loss of all central and eastern Himalayan glaciers by 2035, she added.
She stated that over all rainfall in the region was likely to drop significantly and temperature would rise by 1-2 centigrade and 2-3 centigrade in various parts. Sofia said that the climate change was also affecting species and it could cause shifting habitat and changing life cycles. She added that structure and functioning of ecological systems would be altered and biodiversity would decrease.
She said that Pakistan was highly deficient in forest resources due to an arid climate over more than 90 percent of its areas. However, studies indicate that forests at the extreme end of the spectrum are highly sensitive to climatic changes, she added.
Talking about the impact of climate change on agriculture sector, she said that it might bring a positive impact, extending growing seasons, increase in yields and the production of food crops due to fertilisation effect of the increased Carbon Dioxide concentration.
She said that due to the climate change, there would be an increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather conditions, pushing an increase in natural disasters such as landslides, flash floods and forest fires.
To overcome the devastating situation, she stressed upon the need of specific research. Expansion of research in bio-diversity, forests, coastal zones and socio-economic sectors is needed, she remarked.
"In our country the importance is given to water and agriculture sector. However, it would be better if environment sector is also given the same importance," she added.
Sofia said that there was a need of mainstreaming and integration of climate change concerns into policy and plans. Future planning and policy formulation should also take into consideration expected climate change scenarios and impacts, she added. She further said that there was a need of vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies followed by early warning and disaster response system and enhanced community outreach.