Nature-based solutions critical to address climate change impacts: experts

Islamabad:Pakistan is navigating through the worst climate crisis and it will only worsen, if we do not act now, Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam warned.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday regarding Recharge Pakistan project, she said that increased and intense heat waves, devastating floods, and depleting freshwater resources, all call for improving Pakistan’s resilience to climate change impacts.

“It is high time we reinvent our development models and pathways and address these challenges, which pose serious threats to local communities, critical ecosystems and economies.” The Recharge Pakistan project is supported by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, the Federal Flood Commission under the Ministry of Water Resources, the Green Climate Fund, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) and WWF to help improve the resilience of some of the country’s most climate-vulnerable communities affected by its devastating impacts.

Talking to media, Fawad Hayat, Recharge Pakistan’s Senior Director at WWF-Pakistan observed that climate change has re-shaped the landscape of Pakistan with serious implications for the water resources, despite various interventions.

He said the Recharge Pakistan project offers nature-based solutions to restore wetlands, water channels, and improve conditions in the Indus Basin, which would help reduce the flood extent by 50,800 hectares and capture an estimated 20 million cubic meters of water.

“By bolstering community resilience against climate change, the project will also improve food security, as well as put forward alternative and sustainable livelihoods opportunities for local communities,” he said. Lucas Black, Vice President of Climate Finance at WWF-US, said the World Wide Fund for Nature would support the groundbreaking initiative as it would harness the power of nature.