ISLAMABAD: Environmental expert said Pakistan was the eighth most affected country by the climate change globally and likely to be water scarce by 2025.

Addressing a roundtable, an environmental expert Khan Faraz said the country was in the grip of food, climate, water, population, and environmental crisis. The country had faced 152 extreme events in the last two decades with constant shifts in rainfall patterns, intensity, and frequency, he added.

The country is home to the hottest cities in the world for three consecutive years with temperatures rising up to 53.7ºC, which is an unlivable situation. This has an impact on food security and up to 40 percent population of the country was food insecure. Pakistan lost 1.8 million acres of fertile land to sea intrusion due to rising sea levels and losing 27,000 acres of forest annually. This is unprecedented, Faraz added.

Faraz said there was a strong need to prioritise adaptation action beyond mitigation and work in these sectors will reduce vulnerability to climate change. The federal government had set up priority actions in food security, pollution control, urban resilience, and health sector because climate resilient health system is needed to deal with a variety of health issues that come with climate alterations, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022