ince 1994 the United Nations has broadened the concept national security to include the security of people alongside conventional security. Environmental security is an important factor in human security. When the government of Pakistan announced its National Security Policy 2022-2024 in January, the document had a chapter dedicated to human security that mentioned the word ‘climate’ twelve times and the phrase ‘climate change’ eight times. The word ‘water’ was mentioned nineteen times and the phrase ‘water security’ twice. This suggests that the policy makers are seriously concerned about the environmental security in Pakistan.

Our policy makers and many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have known about the disastrous effects of climate change for a long time. Extreme weather events have also alerted the masses. Policy makers and administrators are aware that floods pose one of the biggest challenges to Pakistan. However, the issue has not been adequately tackled. The National Security Policy document mentioned above has only two mentions of natural disasters and not a single mention of floods.

Pakistan has once again been hit by catastrophic flooding which is going to affect the sustainable development of the nation over the coming decades. Pakistan has suffered from disastrous flooding many times in its history according to the Federal Flood Commission report, which highlights that Pakistan has witnessed floods in almost every decade except 1960s. The first one had occurred in 1950. However, if we focus on climate change, then in the 21st Century the first colossal flood occurred in 2010. The flood this year has been larger but has the same root causes. There are several governmental agencies charged with taking measures to deal with floods. In 1975, a large flood triggered the establishment of the Federal Flood Commission. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was founded after the devastating earthquake of 2005. Later, the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities were created and expanded to complement the operations of the NDMA.

All these arrangements have been reactionary in nature and addressed only the effects of climate change and not its causes. Moreover, the chronic governance crisis spanning over several decades and the continuing political instability have aggravated the poor management of floods. An investigation of the immediate causes of the current catastrophe will reveal that deforestation resulting in environmental degradation has been a factor in it.

Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Billion Tree Tsunami initiative made headlines in domestic as well as foreign media. In 2019, while addressing the 74^th session of the United Nations General Assembly, he said, “There will be climate refugees in the future… Climate change is something which cannot be dealt with by any individual country until the world gets together.” However, Pakistan has a long way to go despite the announcement of a National Climate Change Policy in 2021.

Our policy makers and many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have known about the disastrous effects of climate change for a long time. The National Security Policy document mentioned above has only two mentions of natural disasters and not a single mention of floods.

Under the 18^th Amendment environment protection was one of the subjects devolved to the provinces. Its detractors have claimed that this is a hindrance in the implementation of federal policies for environmental security. The incumbent Federal Minister Sherry Rehman however has been vocal regarding the challenges the country faces. She has emphasised the need for comprehensive environmental security policies in the national security framework. Collective action is clearly required from all stakeholders.

The massive human loss and damage to infrastructure in the recent floods could have been mitigated had we built back better following the floods in 2010. The wider the ambit of a climate change policy, the stronger the environmental security umbrella can be. Other dimensions of human security like food security, health security, community security, water security, economic security etc all depend upon it.

According to a recent NDMA report, 1,121 deaths have been recorded and 39,100 homes have been destroyed completely and 743,248 partially. 775,345 cattle were carried away by the flood. 192 bridges and 3,748 kilometres of roads and several railway tracks have been demolished by the current deluge. In 2010, the second deadliest flood in Pakistan’s history had killed 1,985 people and inundated 17,553 villages over a 160,000 square kilometres area, affecting 21 million people. The images and videos of flood affected areas are horrifying but the post-flood period will be even more challenging because the magnitude of the developing humanitarian crisis is huge. The socio-economic vulnerabilities of Pakistan are likely to worsen unless a huge effort can be mounted with support from other countries and multilateral organisations.

Is there a way out? The answer is ‘yes’, but it’s not a panacea, rather a process. First of all, climate change must be recognised as a national security threat. Second, better water reservoirs and effective water management are required. All encroachments on the natural course of water across the country must be removed. Climate friendly construction must be ensured. The national policy on climate change must be revised in the light of the damage caused by flooding in 2022. Assessments regarding climate change should be undertaken regularly. A comprehensive action plan is required for the accomplishment of SDGs related to the environment, particularly SDGs 13 and 15, in order to mitigate the effects of future natural disasters by engaging the corporate sector. A non-traditional awareness campaign about the effects of climate change is the need of the hour.

Human security generally and climate change in particular are poorly understood concepts in Pakistan.

Eric Usher, the head of the finance initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme once said: “At the heart of the climate challenge are two gaps we urgently need to bridge — the ambition and the investment gap.” This statement illustrates our climate change dilemma.

The 2022 floods have highlighted an existential threat, which is why we have to understand the sensitivity of the matter. Most international climate watch dogs have ranked Pakistan among the 10 most vulnerable countries in the world. We have to realise that the writ of the state is not only violated by terrorists and illegal aliens; it is also violated when building codes are violated by real estate developers.

The writer is a Lahore based researcher. He teaches international relations to civil service aspirants. He can be reached at: waqasiqbal083@gmail.com