The challenge of climate change and policy response in Pakistan

Climate change is expected to have adverse impact on Pakistan. This is ironical for a country, which ranks 135th in the world in terms of global green house gases (GHG) emissions per capita, but ranks 16th in terms of vulnerability to climate change. Climate change poses a major threat to all dimensions of sustainable development and has widespread impacts across various sectors and ecosystems such as food, water and energy; forests and biodiversity; coastal and marine environment; as well as on the occurrence and intensity of climate related hazards such as floods and drought. It also carries potential for internal and external conflicts. The paper examines the present and potential impact of climate change in Pakistan, and reviews national policies and plans to examine the extent to which climate-related issues have been integrated within these. The paper also discusses adaptation and mitigation measures and identifies the key elements that need to be included in the Climate Change Action Plan of Pakistan and stresses their mainstreaming into the national development policies and plans.

[1]  J. Samper,et al.  An evaluation of climate change impacts on groundwater flow in the Plana de La Galera and Tortosa alluvial aquifers (Spain) , 2015, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[2]  Felipe J. Colón-González,et al.  Climate change and the emergence of vector-borne diseases in Europe: case study of dengue fever , 2014, BMC Public Health.

[3]  Y. Lian,et al.  Characteristics of climate change in southwest China karst region and their potential environmental impacts , 2015, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[4]  Assessment of hydrologic impacts of climate change on the runoff trend in Klang Watershed, Malaysia , 2014, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[5]  M. S. Qureshi,et al.  Climatic Variability and Linear Trend Models for the Five Major Cities of Pakistan , 2010 .

[6]  Abdul Sattar Shakir,et al.  Climate Change Impact on River Flows in Chitral Watershed , 2016 .

[7]  H. Yazicigil,et al.  Assessing the impact of climate change on Mogan and Eymir Lakes’ levels in Central Turkey , 2012, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[8]  Shardul Agrawala,et al.  Economic Aspects of Adaptation to Climate Change: Costs, Benefits and Policy Instruments , 2008 .

[9]  O. Canziani,et al.  Climate change 2007: synthesis report. Summary for policymakers , 2007 .

[10]  C. Bezirtzoglou,et al.  Climate changes, environment and infection: facts, scenarios and growing awareness from the public health community within Europe. , 2011, Anaerobe.

[11]  S. H. Sajjad,et al.  On rising temperature trends of Karachi in Pakistan , 2009 .

[12]  M. A. Khan,et al.  Food Insecurity in Pakistan: Causes and Policy Response , 2011 .

[13]  Trend Analysis of January Temperature in Pakistan over the Period of 1961-2006: Geographical Perspective , 2010 .

[14]  J. Priess,et al.  Impacts of agricultural land-use dynamics on erosion risks and options for land and water management in Northern Mongolia , 2014, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[15]  Z. Abbass.  Climate Change, Poverty and Environmental Crisis in the Disaster Prone Areas of Pakistan , 2009 .

[16]  M. Bălan,et al.  National agricultural policy. , 2014 .

[17]  Samanpreet Kaur,et al.  Climate Change Projections , 2018 .

[18]  J. Rose,et al.  Climate variability and change in the United States: potential impacts on water- and foodborne diseases caused by microbiologic agents. , 2001, Environmental health perspectives.

[19]  N. Sadiq,et al.  THE APPARENT TEMPERATURE ANALYSIS OF PAKISTAN USING BIO-METEOROLOGICAL INDICES , 2008 .

[20]  P. GeevanC.  National Environment Policy , 2004 .

[21]  M. Shakoor,et al.  Dengue fever: Pakistan’s worst nightmare , 2012, WHO South-East Asia journal of public health.

[22]  B. Menne,et al.  Climate change and infectious diseases in Europe , 2010 .

[23]  B. Vaughn,et al.  Security and the Environment in Pakistan , 2010 .

[24]  Kristie L. Ebi,et al.  Climate Change, Tropospheric Ozone and Particulate Matter, and Health Impacts , 2008, Environmental health perspectives.

[25]  P. Meus,et al.  In situ monitoring of karst springs in Wallonia (southern Belgium) , 2013, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[26]  F. Tubiello,et al.  Land and water use options for climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture , 2011 .

[27]  M. Zahid,et al.  Rise in Summer Heat Index over Pakistan , 2010 .

[28]  Robert J. Nicholls,et al.  Assessing the costs of adaptation to climate change: a review of the UNFCCC and other recent estimates , 2009 .

[29]  Bingfang Wu,et al.  Quantifying impacts of climate variability and human activities on the hydrological system of the Haihe River Basin, China , 2014, Environmental Earth Sciences.