Speaking at a public hearing, organised by the Senate Caucus for Climate Change in collaboration with Jinnah Institute here at Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS), Patchamuthu Illangovan said that Pakistan devotes 90 percent of its water to five agricultural products such as rice, sugarcane, cotton, wheat and maize that generate less than 20 percent of the GDP.
He said that agriculture is heavily dependent on irrigation, though agriculture contributes around one-fifth of national GDP. He pointed out that 69 percent of water currently being used is unsafe for human consumption.
"Pakistan cannot follow a 'grow now and clean later strategy," he said, adding that it should convert its youth bulge into a demographic dividend. "Climate change is not about a single political party or sector," he said.
Illangovan also presented a comparison between Pakistan and other less-developed countries that have devised better water and environmental management systems.
He said that Pakistan's youthful population should be leveraged to create human resource advantages in the coming years, as young people can become champions of managing and protecting the environment.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said that politics is lagging far behind the science of climate change, which has repeatedly shown the imminent dangers of increasing global temperatures.
He informed that the Shishpar Glacier in Gilgit-Baltistan has receded very fast due to heat generated in another part of the world. He pointed out that Pakistan is the 8th most vulnerable country to climate degradation, but its policies alone are no safeguard against deteriorating environmental conditions.
Among other initiatives undertaken by the PTI government to combat climate impacts is 'Billion Tree Tsunami' reforestation effort aimed at carbon sequestration which has been lauded by environmental auditors.
He said that in another phase, the government has a vision to plant 10 billion trees in the country for which 50 percent funds will be allocated by the federal government while the remaining 50 percent by the provinces.
Referring to the water scarcity, he lamented that a huge amount of water is being wasted while only 9 percent water is being stored. However, he said that government is engaged with China to bring projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) aimed at ensuring storage of the water being wasted.
Senator Sherry Rehman, in her address to the forum, asserted that the scale of challenges presented by climate requires legislators to devise collective agency and lead the charge on climate adaptation across Pakistan.
She said that the Senate Caucus was set up with a view to convening stakeholders and advocating urgent action on climate change that cuts across federal and provincial mandates.
She said that climate indicators are worsening in Pakistan and should not be taken as statistics alone, as they are impacting lives, livelihoods and survival for citizens everyday.
She pointed out that hazardous air quality has claimed more lives in 2016 alone than the war on terror, adding that more than 5 million people are forced to live through drought conditions and disasters have cost up to $2 billion each year on average over the last two decades and Pakistan's carbon emissions have quadrupled in 15 years.
She appreciated the growing interest and participation of legislators at the Caucus, who are generating scrutiny around climate policies, and championing issues like reduced plastic usage and improving ambient air quality from the Caucus platform.
She further said that climate change requires coordinated responses by stakeholders that go beyond bland analyses of policy frameworks, and within that, the roles of government, parliament, civil society and citizens are all critical.
Leader of the House in Senate Senator Shibli Faraz, while speaking, appreciated the efforts of the Caucus, and the importance of collective action in combating climate change.
Amhad Rafay Alam, environmental lawyer and activist, stated that integrated environmental policies should not mean centralisation of devolved powers back to Islamabad.
He said that the plantation of trees is a welcome step, but it can neither realistically address the challenge of increasing temperatures, nor sequester carbon at the rate at which it is being produced in the atmosphere.