Our environmental debt

While dealing with economic and social challenges, an invisible but loud crisis has grown up within the territories of Pakistan, which is known as the country's environmental debt.

Such debt, accumulated throughout the period of several decades, due to inappropriate and unsustainable measures as well as lack of environmental governance, poses potential risks not only to the natural ecosystems in Pakistan but also to the long-term economic stability and human well-being in Pakistan.

Environmental debt is the cost of natural resources and ecosystems. It is, in other words, the damages that are paid in the form of lost economic opportunities, problems of ill health, and the expensive remediation. In Pakistan, such a debt has been mounting on several fronts: deforestation, water scarcity, air pollution, and climate change impacts.

With a rate of about 27,000 hectares of forest lost every year, Pakistan is among the countries with the highest deforestation in the world. As of now, forests constitute approximately 5.1 per cent of the total area of Pakistan; it is far below the recommended 25 per cent. This deforestation causes soil erosion that further deteriorates agricultural productivity, besides biodiversity loss. Agriculture is the sector where 20 per cent of Pakistan's GDP comes from and more than 38 per cent of the working population is occupied; therefore, it is one of the most exposed sectors to environmental damage.

In 1951, the per capita availability of water was 5,650 cubic meters. Today, it is less than 1,000 cubic meters, making the country water deficient. This deficiency is further accentuated by the inefficiency of water use in agriculture, obsolete methods of irrigation, like flood irrigation, and climate change-related alterations in glacial melt and monsoons.

Approximately 90 per cent of the accessible freshwater is utilised in agriculture, where practices are inefficient and still a source of wastage. The shortage of water is going to pose a threat to food security and industrial growth and is likely to even evoke social unrest in a country where over 40 per cent of people are engaged in agricultural work.

Particulate matter levels in major cities, including Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, often rise to the point of creating hazes with the concentration average of the safe level set by the World Health Organization is exceeded by a multiple. Pakistan is ranked at the top in the list of 10 countries with the highest mortality rates as a result of air pollution. It is estimated that 128,000 people die each year because of being exposed to bad air quality.

According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan is the eighth most climate-vulnerable country, despite contributing less than 1.0 per cent of global greenhouse gases. When, in 2022, these floods submerged one-third of the country, they caused over $30 billion in damage and affected 33 million people, with millions left homeless.

The accumulated environmental debt is a significant risk to the economic future of Pakistan. Agriculture absorbs 38.5 per cent of the labour force, contributing about 20 per cent of GDP and is probably the most vulnerable sector of all. Soil erosion and water scarcity, along with changing climate conditions, are expected to lower crop yields by as much as 30 per cent in some areas. This will likely cause food insecurity and the loss of a means of living for millions.

Environmental degradation has already imposed a huge strain on the healthcare system in Pakistan largely through air and water pollution, with the annual economic cost of the damage standing at about 9.0 per cent of GDP.

Pakistan’s energy composition excessively leans on fossil fuels, especially coal; it not only causes pollution in the air but also paints a trapped picture of pursuing a carbon-heavy development trajectory. Approximately 32 per cent of Pakistan's energy composition is made of coal.

The economic planning of Pakistan should give top priority to sustainable development to liquidate its environmental debt. This would require the following: modernising irrigation, investing in water conservation technology, and protecting watersheds will make a big dent in getting to the problem of water.

Investment in renewable energy sources is to be made after all – including solar, wind, green carbon and hydropower to steer Pakistan away from fossil fuel dependency. The country has 50,000MW of wind power potential at the coastline and plenty of solar potential in the south.

Pakistan has a ‘silent crisis’ environmental debt that can upend all its economic and social progress. Addressing that debt is not only an environmental imperative, but also a grand way to set the foundation for long-term economic steadiness with an improved quality of life for all Pakistanis. It is, therefore, time to act, lest the cost of inaction should become unbearably prohibitive.

The writer is an expert on climate change and sustainable development and the founder of the Clifton Urban Forest. He tweets/posts @masoodlohar and can be reached at:

mlohar@gmail.com