Due to severe water shortage and the growing effects of climate change, local and foreign scientists have alerted Pakistan about the possibility of widespread food insecurity, saying that up to half of the population could be impacted by 2030.
The Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD) sponsored a two-day symposium on “Climate Change, Agriculture, Human Nutrition, and Development in Pakistan,” and The News claimed that this grave message surfaced at that event.
Held in association with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Pakistan (SDSN), the conference ended on Saturday and included talks on the junction of public health, food security, and environmental challenges.
In his farewell words, founding director of the IGHD at the Agha Khan University (AKU), Professor Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta underlined in great urgency the need of creative ideas to handle these related issues.
“With 90% of Pakistan’s agriculture reliant on the threatened Indus River system, glacial melting and erratic rainfall patterns are driving us towards unprecedented food shortages,” he said.
The provost of AKU, Dr Tania Bubela, underlined the need of multidisciplinary initiatives to solve these problems. “Climate change calls for cooperation in many spheres since it is a multifarious challenge. AKU is still dedicated to spearheading evidence-based projects aiming at a sustainable future,” she stated.
Climate change in Pakistan
Pakistan is ranked among the top 10 most climate-vulnerable countries, facing increasingly frequent and severe weather events, such as unprecedented floods, intense monsoon rains, devastating heat waves, rapid glacial melting and glacial lake outburst floods.
Since record floods in 2022 that affected 33 million residents and caused more than $15 billion in damages, the country has contended with several new crises that have hampered a sustained recovery.
The summer of 2024 has been marked by searing heat with thousands of Pakistanis succumbing to heatstroke and inundating healthcare facilities.
Pakistani youth are also at elevated risk of mental health impacts from climate change. A looming concern that emerged from our conversations with young people revolved around missed educational prospects, as schools have been forced to close owing to the floods.
