GLOBAL CLIMATIC TRANSFORMATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR PAKISTAN

Abstract

Global climate change has tremendous economic, environmental and social implications for Pakistan. Recently, there has been increased awareness about inevitability of climate change and the realization that though everyone is affected, yet not equally. The central argument of this paper is that Pakistan is the victim of global climate change and facing consequences of the action it has not committed. We will analyze the global perspective of climate change, how Pakistan is being affected by climate change and what is policy response of Pakistan for adapting and responding. We will apply qualitative approach for our analysis. Developing world is facing challenges of poor governance, resource scarcity and violence, thus suffer greater because of natural disasters. Pakistan is among those countries which have experienced increasing frequency of flooding and droughts, erratic weather and agricultural pattern, loss of biodiversity and decline in freshwater availability. Social theory forms the basis of understanding of climate related threats to developing countries. It gives rise to conceptual framework of societal vulnerability, which can be used to explain why Pakistan is the major victim of global climate change. Pakistan has experienced serious impacts of climate change in various sectors like agriculture, water scarcity, inter provincial conflicts over resources, public heath, floods and other extreme weather events. This calls for rapid climate action and concrete policy for addressing this rapidly deteriorating situation. The country should enhance is disaster management and coping capacity and work on building the resilience of people and institutions. Availability and distribution of fresh water must be guided by laws formed by coordination of central ad provincial government. For efficient administration, interaction, and implementation, it is crucial to combine the relevant ministries under the aegis of provincial and federal disaster response organizations. Keywords: climate change, Pakistan, social theory, floods, food security, water scarcity.