Population growth adding to climate risks, says official

By Abdul Samad Tariq

ISLAMABAD, Jul 11 (APP): Pakistan’s rapid population growth is putting greater pressure on water, land and public services and could undermine efforts to build resilience against climate change, a climate ministry official warned on Saturday.

Speaking on World Population Day, Mohammad Saleem Shaikh, spokesperson for the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, told APP that demographic pressures were increasingly intersecting with floods, droughts, heatwaves and other climate-related hazards.

Pakistan’s population is estimated at around 259 million and is growing at approximately 2.55 per cent annually. If the current trend continues, the population could exceed 300m within the next five years and approach 400m by 2050, he said.

“Every additional million people requires more water, food, energy, housing, schools, hospitals, transport infrastructure and employment opportunities,” Shaikh said.

He described population growth as a “climate risk multiplier”, arguing that rising demand for natural resources was coinciding with declining water availability and environmental degradation.

Pakistan records nearly 6.7m births annually. According to figures cited by the official, wider access to voluntary family planning could reduce annual population growth by around 1.5m people while improving maternal and child health outcomes.

The country’s total fertility rate stands at 3.6 children per woman. Nearly 40 per cent of children under five are stunted, 18pc are wasted and 29pc are underweight.

Around 11,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes each year, while approximately 140,000 infants die before their first birthday, according to figures cited by the ministry.

Shaikh said improved access to reproductive healthcare and voluntary family planning could help prevent thousands of maternal and infant deaths.

The demographic outlook also poses significant infrastructure and employment challenges. Population Council estimates suggest the country could require another 57,000 primary schools, 15.5m houses and nearly 104m new jobs by 2050 if current population trends persist.

Shaikh said rapid urbanisation and population growth were also contributing to groundwater depletion, deforestation, land degradation, biodiversity loss, waste generation and air pollution.

Although Pakistan contributes less than one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it remains highly exposed to the effects of climate change, making efficient management of natural resources increasingly important, he said.

Climate adaptation, he added, could not be confined to flood protection infrastructure and tree plantation programmes.

“It also requires investing in voluntary family planning, girls’ education, women’s empowerment, reproductive healthcare, clean water, sanitation and sustainable urban planning,” he said.

Shaikh said federal and provincial institutions were considering policy options, in consultation with development partners and civil society organisations, to address population pressures and improve resource efficiency.

He called for closer coordination between population, climate and development policies, saying population stabilisation was essential to environmental sustainability and long-term economic development.