ISLAMABAD: Despite a severe financial crunch, Pakistan continued to invest in mitigation and adaptation strategies, owing to its vulnerability to climate change, with pledges to improve policy actions and allocate more resources in future.

The cognisance of the risk posed by this threat can be seen from the fact that the ambitious aforestation project launched by the previous PTI government was not only continued but even expanded by the incumbent PDM government.

The government spent over Rs3.3 billion on the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project in the last fiscal year, the Economic Survey Pakistan 2022-23 revealed.

Over 188m plants were planted from July to March 2023. So far, over 2bn plants have been planted or regenerated under the project.

PDM expanding PTI’s ten billion tree project; document outlines policy actions, future mitigation strategies

The project had bipartisan support despite Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman levelling allegations of massive corruption in the scheme.

The survey highlighted Pakistan’s efforts at the COP-27 conference to mobilise funds for the least developing and most vulnerable nations. Under such initiatives, Pakistan has been added to the Vulnerable 20 Group of countries that will receive funding from developed countries.

Moreover, the ‘Global Fertilizer Challenge’, with support from the US and Germany, announced $135m funding for Brazil, Colombia, Pakistan and Vietnam.

Policy actions

The government took a number of policy actions in the wake of the climate crisis. These included the launch of the National Clean Air Policy (NCAP), the setting up of Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM) and a national inventory for Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP), among others.

Under the NCAP, the government aimed to improve fuel quality to Euro-5 and Euro-6 standards, enforce emission standards for industries, implement mechanisms to prevent the burning of crop and solid waste and the promotion of low emission cooking technologies.

The survey also outlined a plan for setting up VCM to allow the trade of carbon credits. The VCM provided Pakistan “a great opportunity to offset the impacts of climate change induced disasters as well as for finance mobilisation”.

The climate change ministry has been working on a framework for VCM to become a part of the global carbon market. The framework will help set up “a digital trade infrastructure to deliver greater transparency, efficiency and risk mitigation for buyers and sellers”.

Under the SLCP, the climate change ministry identified several priority actions, including industrial emission control, upgradation of brick kilns to clean technologies, minimising forest fires through effective management, promotion of clean and efficient energy resources and improved waste management.

A Net Zero strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions has also been chalked out for an “evidence-backed plan to set realistic Net Zero targets”.

The National Electric Vehicle Policy (NEVP), was another action that had support across party lines The policy aimed to move away from carbon-emitting fuel and cut reliance on oil imports. The NEVP, approved by the cabinet in November 2019 and further expanded by the incumbent government, envisaged saving $2.2bn to $3.7bn in oil imports by 2030.

Fiscal cost of climate disasters

The survey also highlighted the fiscal cost of natural disasters making climate policy action a compulsion rather than a choice. For example, the floods in 2022, damaged railway tracks forcing the Pakistan Railways to close its main line for Karachi to Peshawar for 35 days, resulting in loss of both passenger and freight revenues. Similarly, the National Highway Authority revenue dipped by 25 per cent due to damages to the road network.

Future plan of action

The survey stated that a “comprehensive climate change policy” was now in place to provide an evidence-based framework for climate actions.

To mitigate the impact of future climate disasters, the government has initiated several projects to strengthen infrastructure resilience to mitigate risks. Under the National Disaster Management Authority’s National Disaster Risk Management, early warning systems have been improved and disaster preparedness, including response and recovery, has been enhanced.

The government has also ramped up efforts for international climate finance, such as the Green Climate Fund to improve its fiscal capacity for climate resilience.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2023