The UN has issued a clarion call publishing a report delivering dramatic warnings about the effects of climate change and how much worse it could get. The report described as ‘code red for humanity’ said the impact is irreversible and humans are unequivocally responsible for it. It is already too late to prevent climate change. The best the world can do is slow down so that countries have more time to prepare and adapt. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are already high enough to guarantee climate disruption for decades, if not centuries. This is on top of the deadly heatwaves, urban flooding and weather extremes we are witnessing which are likely to become more severe.
The report, prepared by 234 scientists for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has warned that global warming of about 1.1 degrees Celsius has brought significant changes in diverse regions. These changes include severe droughts and storms on one extreme to rapidly rising sea levels on the other. It is almost certain now that these trends will continue to wreak havoc across the planet unless something serious and urgent is done at the global level. Further warming will increase harmful effects on climate which is why there is a pressing need to cut climate-heating emissions to keep temperature rise to internationally agreed goals of well below 2C and ideally 1.5C. If the world manages to do that it will help stop or slow down some of the impacts. For the past at least three decades there have been regular such reports to inform governments about an impending climate crisis. Despite repeated warnings, the response from most of the countries has not resulted in adequate policy alterations to counter climate change. As the problem gets worse, the safety of our future generations is increasingly at stake.
In Pakistan, climate change has never been a major policy item on any government’s agenda, neither during the election campaign nor after coming to power. It is therefore encouraging and commendable that the PTI is the only government that has made a tangible effort to create awareness about global warming through its various tree plantation drives. While the numbers it often quotes are hard to verify and at times mathematically unsound, the optics are good. And that is where the problem lies; Prime Minister Imran Khan holding a shovel full of soil in front of a tree sapling is great for a photo op, but it contributes basically nothing towards addressing many of the major shortcomings in terms of reducing carbon emissions and pollution that is rampant across the country. Factories are allowed to operate without many checks and balances in the way of accounting for the waste they pump into the air daily. The annual ‘smog season’ and the resultant toxic air quality is a testament to how little control there is over vehicular and industrial emissions and the use of coal as a fuel, not to mention the burning of waste and agriculture materials. If the PTI truly wants to be a champion of climate change, it needs to do much more and fast.
The report also highlights potential threats to biodiversity if we are unable to contain rising temperatures. All this will result in negative impacts on the global economy and a possible refugee crisis on an unprecedented scale. The report also makes it clear that even if we start implementing our plans in earnest now, the negative trends already triggered will continue for decades and in some cases for centuries. For the sake of humanity’s future – any future – we have no alternative but to save this planet from human arrogance. This can only happen if there is global will to do so. We must act now when there is still time to prevent a complete catastrophe in the years ahead.
