CSS Solved International Relations Past Papers | Pakistan is reckoned among the top 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change. What urgent policy measures does Pakistan need to initiate to mitigate the climate effects?
Ammara Bakht, the highest scorer in the CSS IR paper, attempts the following question. The question is attempted in the same way that Miss Abeera Fatima, the top IR scorer, has been attempting. Moreover, the answer is written on the same pattern, taught by Sir to his students, scoring the highest marks in compulsory subjects for years. This solved past paper question is uploaded to help aspirants understand how to crack a topic or question, how to write relevantly, what coherence is, and how to include and connect ideas, opinions, and suggestions to score the maximum.
Question Breakdown
In this question, the examiner has asked about the recommendations to counter Pakistan’s vulnerability towards climate change. You have to explain the reasons behind the country’s extreme susceptibility w.r.t climate change. In, addition to this, you have to give the appropriate solutions to cope with disaster management related to climate change and discuss the measures that can lessen its vulnerability.
Outline
1- Introduction
2- Climate Change
3- Effects of climate change
4- Pakistan and its vulnerability towards climate change
- ✓ Dependency on agriculture as a source of employment as well as revenue
- ✓ Inadequate monitoring systems
- ✓ Socioeconomic deprivation
3- A dire need for new policy measures
- ✓ Formation of a climate-smart agriculture system
- ✓ Planning for land use and municipal services
- ✓ Opting for low-carbon and sustainable energy transport
- ✓ Bolstering human capital to achieve Climate resilience
- ✓ Amalgamation of policies, rewards or incentives and institutions to aid climate-related actions
- ✓ Climate-focused National Command and Operation Center; NCOC
4- Critical analysis
5- Conclusion
Answer to the Question
Introduction
Climate change is a long-term alteration in weather and temperature patterns that can be natural depending upon solar cycles as well as synthetic, like the burning of fossil fuels, i.e. coal and gas. Pakistan is a country that is in the process of development, so it is highly vulnerable to adverse impacts of climatic change. The reasons behind its vulnerability are, overly dependent on agriculture, economic deprivation and inadequate monitoring system. World bank has recommended some solutions for Pakistan that can help the county to lessen the severity of disasters. These suggestions are the formation of a climate-smart agriculture system, planning for land use and municipal services, opting for low carbon and sustainable energy transport, bolstering human capital to achieve Climate resilience and amalgamation of policies, rewards or incentives and institutions to aid climate-related actions. New policies and solutions can improve climate conditions as well as be economically beneficial by positively changing our lives and environment.
Climate Change
Climate change is no longer a scientific speculation but a reality. It is a long-term alteration in weather and temperature patterns. These alterations can be natural, depending upon solar cycles as well as synthetic, like the burning of fossil fuels, i.e. coal and gas. This burning can cause greenhouse emissions which include the release of methane and carbon dioxide, they trap the heat of the sun, causing temperature rise. The last decade (2011-20), was the warmest decade on record because of these emissions. The temperature of the earth has increased up to 1.1 per cent as compared to the 19th century. The after-effects of these changes include unnatural floods, droughts, the decline in biodiversity, the melting of glaciers, intense water shortages, rising sea levels and storms, etc.
Effects of climate change
Climatic change has diverse effects throughout the globe. It has affected health, work routines, weather changes, growing food, etc. This is not a future problem but is happening now, as predicted by scientists long before. According to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), these new changes have never been observed before in global climate. They are irreversible and will be the same over the next thousands of years. Their last report of 2021, has published that human emissions have already warmed the planet by 1.1 degree Celsius. Some of the alterations to climate change are given below in fig 1.1
“Increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive, and irreversible impacts.”
– Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Pakistan and its vulnerability towards climate change
In literary terms, vulnerability is a risk or a sudden change in circumstances like illness, loss of job, any accident or an unforeseen situation that push poor people below the poverty lines. Vulnerability is measured by considering three factors, i.e. risk exposure, adaptation capacity and sensitivity to risks. Pakistan is a country that is in the process of development, so it is highly vulnerable to adverse impacts of climatic change. Increased temperatures like hottest summers than before, variation in monsoon during summers, melting of glaciers, I.e. drastic floods of 2022, variability and frequency in extreme weather conditions, and frequent occurrence of natural disasters. Apart from underdevelopment, what other reasons make Pakistan more prone to damages caused by climatic change? A few of the factors are mentioned below as
- ✓ Dependency on agriculture as a source of employment as well as revenue
- Pakistan is an agricultural land, and seventy per cent of its employment is dependent on it. Along with employment, its food requirements are also connected to agriculture. As agrarian societies are water-dependent, they cannot survive without water. The same goes for Pakistan; for the last few years Pakistan is facing acute water shortages, which is affecting its water requirement as well as agriculture requirements.
- The WFP (World Food Program) has already reported that there would be an increase in food security in different districts of Pakistan. Malnutrition is a serious health issue faced by infants and young ones during their growth.
- Pakistan is one the highly agriculture-dependent country in the South Asian region; about 70% of its land is irrigated. As per the reports of IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute), from 2010 to 2050, three staple foods would face acute shortage due to climate change, and that is wheat, maize and rice. It also predicted that there would be a 16% decrease in agri-products by 2020, and Pakistan has already been going through this situation.
- ✓ Inadequate monitoring systems
Pakistan is lacking a proper monitoring system that can predict the occurrence of different weathers, climatic conditions and disasters. The floods of 2022, which affected the lives of about 20 million people, are an apparent manifestation of this scantiness. There were loopholes in prerequisites for emergencies which later on caused huge financial and economic damages. The hospitals were overflowing with patients with eye and stomach infections. Than Malaria gained pace and began to spread, this drastic situation was aggravated by a lack of trained healthcare personnel.
- ✓ Socioeconomic deprivation
About half of Pakistan’s population is vulnerable to disasters. Recent research shows that planning and appropriate strategies can minimize damage intensity to some level. Bangladesh has managed to lessen the death rates due to severe cyclones with proper planning. Likewise, sophisticated planning has helped Australia decrease the death rate during disasters. Pakistan is also in dire need of these strategies; improper planning, untrained medical personnel and inadequate social safety infrastructures add to the country’s vulnerability.
A dire need for new policy measures
For the past two decades, Pakistan has been consistently ranked as one of the ten most climate-vulnerable countries on the Climate Risk Index. This has caused a loss of 10,000 human resources due to climate-borne diseases and a financial loss of about 4 billion. The climate dependent disasters like heatwaves, tsunamis and floods exacerbate not only internal problems but also fuel regional and other external conflicts and tensions.
In 2022, when the Foreign minister of Pakistan, Mr Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, visited the US, he mentioned that his country is facing food, water and energy shortages. This scarcity, when combined with political instability and now soaring inflation, is a conformation of a disaster. What has Pakistan done to overcome this situation? The new PDM (Pakistan democratic movement) coalition government announced to make a task force that will observe and analyse climate change parameters. Moreover, approximately 10 billion has been allocated to the ministry of climate change in the 2022-23 national budget, whereas the 2021 budget was 14 billion.
Some of the transition policies recommended for Pakistan to rebuild its economy and overcome climate-dependent disasters are as follows
- ✓ Formation of a climate-smart agriculture system
More than 60% of the Pakistani population is dependent on agriculture as employment as well as food. Recent heatwaves, floods and extreme weather conditions have affected half of the country’s agriculture and it is estimated that it will keep on worsening till 2050. As a smart measure, Pakistan should adopt climate-smart agriculture system that includes, inter-cropping, agroforestry, conservation agriculture, integrated crop-livestock management, crop rotation and improved water management.
- ✓ Planning for land use and municipal services
The country’s urban population is exposed to extreme pollution that will increase from 37% to 60% by 2050. urgent policies are required for balanced division of land, efficient municipal services, clean transportation and effective energy use. To expand urbanization and implement municipal policies, land taxation can be implemented.
- ✓ Opting for low-carbon and sustainable energy transport
The energy sector always plays an important role in economic development and poverty reduction in a country. The country should give awareness of the importance of sustainable transport such as walking, cycling, electric trains and buses and BRT systems. Their benefits include a reduction in traffic and parking congestion, saving money and health, support in the economy, improved mobility and a decrease in pollution.
- ✓ Bolstering human capital to achieve Climate resilience
Pakistan is having a human capital crisis as well and needs improvement in water and sanitation management and maintenance of hygiene for better child health and population control. The country needs to work on quality education and the development of socio-economic protection for high-risk inhabitants. The more self-dependent the people, the more climate resilient the society will be.
- ✓ Amalgamation of policies, rewards or incentives and institutions to aid climate-related actions
To implement and execute climate change agendas and policies, Pakistan needs to invest approximately 10% of its GDP for a decade or two. Moreover, a financing strategy that involves the private sector and the international community must be made to complement its domestic effort to cope with climate resilience.
“Foreign private capital can play an important role in addressing the climate change challenges in Pakistan; sustaining flows of foreign direct investment that support climate mitigation and adaptation will contribute toward financing Pakistan’s low-carbon transition.”
-(Ethiopis Tafara, MIGA Vice President, Legal and Administrative Officer)
- ✓ Climate-focused National Command and Operation Center; NCOC
Like in the COVID control program, Climate focused NCOC should be formed that would ensure the allocation of sufficient resources, coordination among working teams and collaboration of national and provincial governments. It would look into the International accords and conventions, and ensure Pakistan abides by their provisions.
Critical Analysis
New policies and solutions can improve climate conditions as well as be economically beneficial by positively changing our lives and environment. Apart from this, global agreements and multiple frameworks are working and guiding countries and international levels, such as Paris Agreement, Sustainable development goals and the UN convention on climate. They are focusing on three broad categories of implementation; adaptation to a new climate, financial security and reducing emissions. Pakistan is in dire need of adopting an early warning system and adaptation strategies to protect its people, livelihood, business, ecosystem and infrastructure. Policies should be implemented countrywide, but priority should be given to the most vulnerable areas and people.
Conclusion
Along with domestic efforts, Pakistan should get assistance from leading countries like the US. The working team of a country should hold meetings with US professionals to make a workable plan for disaster-prone Pakistan. This would assist the country on one end and soften the rigid bond between both countries on the other.
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