Climate change can generally be defined as a change in global or regional climate patterns. Pakistan caught up a little late on this issue of Climate Change. The first set of complete National Climate Change Policies was rolled out in 2012. A thorough framework to implement these policies was put forward the next year by the Ministry of Climate Change. However, most of the short-term goals identified in this framework are still incomplete. Pakistan ranked fifth among countries, which are most vulnerable to climate change, according to a report released. According to the Index, released by the think tank Germanwatch on Wednesday, Pakistan has lost 9989 lives, suffered economic losses of $3.8 billion, and witnessed 152 events from 1999 to 2018.

It had a truism that Pakistan ranked high among the countries worst affected by climate change, with millions along its Arabian Sea coast, particularly in Karachi, to be forced to move upwards to inland havens, because of sea encroachment. Of course, it would not be the very worst affected, like the Maldives, which would sink beneath the rising sea. However, the future is here, it seems, for the climate change has been having effects now. People are dying, money is being lost, and weather events are accelerating which destroy infrastructure.

Comparatively, Pakistan’s neighboring countries like China and Afghanistan started their combat against climate change way earlier. The ‘ban on Plastic bags’ that has been recently implemented in Pakistan was inculcated in China 10 years ago and in Afghanistan, 6 years ago. Even though Pakistan does not contribute much to climate change but it does still classify as one of the countries that are bearing the brunt of it. According to the UNDP report, if strong actions are not taken as soon as possible, Pakistan will face some very serious consequences in the near future. The most likely consequence is frequent and occasionally very severe flooding; ironically, Pakistan is already known for its history with floods. One problem is that Pakistan is located in a region prone to extreme weather events anyhow. While destabilised climate leads to more and greater events, they follow established patterns and thus tend to disguise that the results of climate change are already beginning to hurt. A case in point would be the disastrous super floods of 2010/2011.

Floods occur every year, so what if they were worse one or two years? It is only when the losses re totted up that a pattern begins to emerge. Another problem has been the tendency of Third World countries like Pakistan to blame the developed world for climate change. It is true that Pakistan alone cannot act to stop climate change, and the developed nations must do the most to cut the greenhouse gas emissions behind the climate change (as well as the use of plastics killing off marine life in the world’s oceans), and it can be argued that the Third World must have its costs paid by the First. However, that should not disguise the fact that Pakistan needs to do its bit. The recent smog that afflicted its largest province is evidence that there are many steps that Pakistanis can take to reduce its carbon footprint.

The question naturally arises whether the government has done anything substantial about climate change, beyond projects heavy with photo ops, like the vaunted million-tree tsunami. Much needs to be done, by citizen and government alike. It is high time that we attempt an attitudinal shift. Planting trees and banning plastics alone won’t lessen our vulnerability to the changing climate. There is a dire need to wake up to this alarming issue on an individual level and to play our part. We don’t have to do too much other than being ­eco-conscious and responsive to our natural ­surroundings and taking ownership of the latter.