Slow response deepens Pakistan’s climate catastrophe in 2024

The year 2024 posed significant climate challenges for vulnerable Pakistan. The country had not fully recovered from previous environmental disasters and faced further devastation. It was one shock after another.

However, this year’s climate dilemmas were not new for both government authorities as well as the masses. The same problems impacted the country and its people the previous year as well as the few years before it but this time they just appeared with more intensity and evidently created space for the same circumstances over the upcoming years as well if immediate actions are not taken.

It is important to note that there is still a lack of climate awareness and sensitivity amongst the majority of the masses. Moreover, the disasters exclusively impacted underprivileged and unguarded demographics. These groups include women, children, labour class, poor and minority communities. It remained the same old pattern where due to systemic incompetence, the brunt was faced by the people who were not directly complicit in the environmental deterioration.

Heatwaves and smog made it among the most extreme climate events in the country in 2024. In addition, cyclonic storms, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) events, cold waves, floods in some areas and waste pollution also left marks of their destruction in the country.

Policies and shortcomings

The policies by the government, relevant ministries and provincial departments were revised with more or less the same foundations laid during the previous years but their implementation was met with institutional slothfulness and disregard.

Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination spokesperson Mohammad Saleem, while highlighting the action steps devised by the government to tackle climate problems, claimed: “In 2024, Pakistan has made notable progress in implementing its national climate policy, focusing on financial strategies, renewable energy adoption, tree plantation, promotion of e-vehicles and international collaborations to enhance climate resilience.”

Hell of heatwaves

Severe heat waves were recorded by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) from May 21 to 31 in the outgoing year throughout many parts of the country but majorly in the Sindh province.

The metropolitan urban city of Karachi recorded temperature highs between 40 degrees Celsius to 42°C, whereas, the temperature rose to 42°C to 44°C in the districts of Thatta, Badin and Sujawal.

According to a warning by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the heatwaves would inflame the consequences of flood and drought. This will result in food insecurity for over 8.6 million people in up to 26 of Pakistan’s 166 districts.

The government is promoting cool roofs as well as encouraging the use of reflective and heat-resistant roofing materials. Expansion of parks, green belts and plantation of trees are also present under the government’s action plan.

Given their inability to provide relief to millions, were these measures during the heatwaves sufficient?

The polluted air also became a serious crisis in the form of smog. For much of November, Lahore was ranked the most polluted city in the world in terms of air quality, according to Swiss air quality technology company IQAir’s Air Quality Index (AQI) list.

Additionally, on November 14, the pollution peaked as AQI revealed that the city’s air quality skyrocketed to an unusually high and hazardous 1,110 and tiny particulate matter, or PM2.5, reached a staggering 632 micrograms per cubic metre of air, according to Reuters.

The institutional policies to counter smog have been defined as accurate theoretically by environmental experts. However, the experts also believe that the implementation of these climate actions on-ground may not be consistent.

Urban pollution control, reducing generator emissions and strengthening legal framework and organisational capacity have been devised by the Punjab Clean Air Action Plan 2024 under the supervision of the Punjab Government’s Environment Protection Department.

Air quality expert and Darya Lab Founder Yasir Darya pointed out that though the action measures have been shaped by the authorities, they are not executed in practical terms.

Another prominent climate event that took place in Pakistan was Cyclone Asna. Under its influence, the country witnessed heavy rainfall coupled with lightning across the Karachi division on September 2 and 3.

Sukkur, Larkana, Khairpur, Dadu, Jacobabad, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, and Sanghar were among the other affected areas.

Across the coastal regions of Sindh and Balochistan, at least 24 people reportedly lost their lives in rain and wind-related incidents.

The catastrophic climate events and environmental hazards that impacted Pakistan in the year 2024 do not produce the possibility of bright prospects for the future as the country continues to see the same circumstances year after year.

— The writer is a Geo.tv staffer