LAHORE, Dec 11 (APP):Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) has called for adopting a multi-pronged approach to overcome the challenges posed by climatic changes and global warming.
Pakistan has suffered climate-induced damages up to US $14.9 billion, therefore
effective and viable strategy is inevitable to cope with the challenges due to global
warming.
PBF Additional Secretary General for the Case Studies And Research Unit, Dr Urwa
Elahi expressed these views while talking to APP here Sunday.
Dr Urwa Elahi added that a recent Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) of the
2022 floods estimated total damage in excess of US$ 14.9 billion and total economic
losses of around US $ 15.2 billion, a near knock-out blow to economic growth.
She mentioned that according to a World Bank Report titled ‘Country Climate and
Development’, issued last month, “The estimated financial needs for post-floods
rehabilitation and reconstruction amount to at least US$ 16.3 billion. And this does
not include the much-needed new investments required to support Pakistan’s adaptation
to climate change and build resilience to protect the country from future climate shocks.”
As a direct consequence of the floods, she added, the national poverty rate was projected
to increase by 3.7 to 4 percent, pushing an additional 8.4 to 9.1 million people into poverty.
Dr. Urwa Elahi said that climate change had placed Pakistan at a crossroad; the country
faced the challenge of encompassing the third biggest ice mass in the world and simultaneously,
confronting temperatures that were surging sharply as a result of global warming.
The PBF Additional Secretary General noted that around 30 million people had been
affected in Pakistan and the potential damage was consistently on the rise. “It is a sight
of misery to see people, livestock and infrastructure drowned under 10 or more feet of water.
Havoc has been wrought by collapsing bridges, falling roofs and walls that cave-in because
it is not able to withstand the influx and magnitude of the gushing water that carries in it all
forms of materials from stones, woods to heavy metals,” she expounded.
Dr Urwa added that buildings, roads and infrastructure had been completely swept away
with the flood streams leaving behind submerged area akin to flood plains. The number of
affectees was soaring and hundreds had lost their lives while thousands were injured and
millions displaced with their houses turned to debris.
She further explained that high temperatures warming the Arabian Sea coupled with the weather warping effects of La Nina brought deadly precipitation in Pakistan, where glacial melt further added to the misery. “Even more worrisome is the fact that the torrential rains and the potential risk of floods remains a threat even now. Extreme floods are followed by extreme droughts as water tends to flow into the sea during floods, rather than seeping into the soil,” she maintained.
PBF’s Dr Urwa Elahi further said that recent flash floods had jolted the country’s already dwindling economy along with many other crucial sectors including food, agriculture, health and infrastructure.
The Human Security Index hit its lowest in the wake of the natural disaster that simultaneously
opened multiple fronts for the government, requiring immediate attention. The hardest hit is the
agricultural sector that faced an unprecedented loss of assortments as 50 percent of crops were
washed away with the floods,” she added.
“According to NASA, around two million acres of cropland and orchards have also been lost.
Unfortunately, 45 percent of the farmland is under water, indicating a future shortage of food
in the country on account of losing ready to harvest yields,” Dr Urwa Elahi mentioned. She said
that farmers mourned that the flood had pushed them back at least half a century and that
devastation of this scale had never been witnessed even by their elders.
The PBF Additional Secretary General asserted that on the ground, the lack of discipline during
the distribution of aid items causes chaos and stampede that deprives many of this urgently
needed support. Scarce health facilities were also a matter of great concern, as this signaled
an impending medical emergency in the near future, she added.
Dr Urwa Elahi suggested, “A multi-pronged approach must be devised to tackle the contingent
devastation and overcome the exposed fault-lines for the future.” She was of the view that timely effective steps in the right direction by all the departments concerned were the only way to do away with future challenges of climate change and global warming.